Bad move by Hue Jackson.
Bad, bad, bad move by the head coach of the Browns in his team’s nationally-televised 28-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
And he – and the Browns, and rookie quarterback Cody Kessler — paid for it.
Jackson replaced Kessler with Josh McCown early in the third quarter, and the veteran promptly did what he has done throughout his long career. He did something that hurt his team by throwing an interception.
Now, even though that gave the Ravens a short field to work with, they didn’t score, so it was not a costly pick in that regard. However, inserting McCown, who has never been a winner to any great extent in his career, and then continuing to play him, isn’t part of the plan. It accomplished nothing – absolutely nothing. In fact, it hurt the team greatly – both near- and long-term.
This season isn’t really about winning. It’s about developing players, especially at quarterback, the position at which the Browns have struggled mightily in the expansion era. As such, the Browns have to see if Kessler, a third-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, can play. He shouldn’t sit at all the rest of the season. But he did sit.
McCown proceeded to do what he always does in keeping his team from winning. He threw two interceptions and fumbled once. That’s three – count ’em – three – turnovers. He was terrible. Again. Still. Always.
I thought Jackson was above something like this. I thought he was smarter than this. I thought he knew what McCown was, and wasn’t. I thought he knew what needed to happen with Kessler, and with MCown. McCown should play only when Kessler can’t. Period. End of sentence.
I am a big Hue Jackson guy. I thought he was the right guy for the job.
I still think that, but after what happened Thursday night, I have a lot more questions than answers.
