Osweiler cites fundamentals as culprit for poor ’16 season
Ex-Texans QB trying to rebound with Browns
Unloaded to the Cleveland Browns in a classic Moneyball-style salary dump after a horrible oneand-done season with the Texans, quarterback Brock Osweiler acknowledged blame for his shortcomings last year.
In his most candid remarks since being traded to Cleveland, where he’s drawn solid reviews from coach Hue Jackson as he competes for a starting job with second-year quarterback Cody Kessler and rookie DeShone Kizer, Osweiler discussed where he regressed with the Texans after signing a four-year, $72 million contract.
“The best part is I’m getting coached hard on my fundamentals,” Osweiler told Cleveland reporters. “And I believe firmly that when your fundamentals and your feet are right as a quarterback, you’re going to make great decisions, and you’re going to throw accurate footballs.
“I think that’s something that slid last season. I’m not going to go into great detail on that, but they did. My fundamentals slid, and because of that, you saw some poor decisions and some poor throws. If you go back to 2015, I feel like my fundamentals were pretty tight.”
Osweiler was essentially sold to the Browns in exchange for the Texans’ sending them a 2018 second-round draft pick and a 2017 sixth-round draft pick, netting a 2017 fourthround pick in the exchange as Cleveland assumed responsibility for his $16 million guaranteed base salary. The Texans saved $10 million in salary-cap space and $16 million in cash this season.
Osweiler won one playoff game with the Texans last season, beating an Oakland Raiders team that was without injured starting quarterback Derek Carr. However, Osweiler was intercepted three times in an AFC divisional-round loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Benched late in the season and replaced by Tom Savage before Savage suffered a concussion in the regular-season finale to force Osweiler back onto the field, the towering 6-8, 235-pound quarterback finished the regular season with 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions for a 72.2 passer rating.
In his final season with the Denver Broncos prior to joining the Texans as a free agent, Osweiler went 5-2 as a starter and passed for 1,967 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions and an 86.4 passer rating.
“I think I did a pretty good job in 2015 of protecting the ball,” Osweiler said. “Last year, I didn’t do such a good job. So coming into this camp and this team and this system, I had a very large focus on making great decisions with the football, and I feel like for the most part, I’ve done that this camp.”