The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Osweiler to start preseason opener
Quarterback will start preseason opener against the Saints; he feels ‘no gratification’ after being dumped by Texans in offseason trade
Browns head coach Hue Jackson said Brock Osweiler will start the preseason opener against the Saints.
The Houston Texans were so eager to unload Brock Osweiler’s $16 million guaranteed salary that on March 9, the first day of the 2017 NFL year, they traded him, plus a sixth-round draft pick in 2017, and a second-round pick in 2018 to the Browns for a 2017 fourth-round pick.
Even the Browns made getting the second-round draft pick a bigger deal than getting a quarterback with a 13-8 record as a starter.
Osweiler is a castoff no more. Browns head coach Hue Jackson on Aug. 7 announced Osweiler will start the preseason opener against the Saints on Aug. 10 at FirstEnergy Stadium. How long he holds onto the job is impossible to say, but few expected even this when the trade was made.
“No gratification,” Osweiler said before practice Aug. 7.
“Bottom line, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. I think this football team knows that. Obviously, Coach Jackson preaches that every single day. This is just one step. There’s a lot of work to be done. There’s a lot of chemistry to be built. There are a lot of fine details that need to be cleared out through more meetings and practice sessions.”
Osweiler was second string when training camp began. He was playing behind Cody Kessler, who was 0-8 starting for the Browns last year, and ahead of rookie DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan.
None of the four leaped ahead of the competition in the eight practices plus the intrasquad scrimmage held Aug. 4 at FirstEnergy Stadium, so Jackson decided to change the order to Osweiler, Kessler, Kizer and Hogan for practice Aug. 7. It will remain that way at least through the game with the Saints. The next preseason game is Aug. 21 against the Giants at FirstEnergy Stadium.
“Brock knows how to play,” Jackson said after practice on Aug. 7. “He works extremely hard. He’s gained a lot of respect in the locker room because of the way he’s prepared.
“This thing isn’t over by any stretch, but this is the decision I’ve made at this time. We have some young quarterbacks that need to play a lot of football. If I stuck one of those other guys out as a starter, he wouldn’t play a lot of football because he’d probably come out when the other veterans come out.”
Jackson would not reveal how playing time will be divided, but he hinted Kizer might end up taking more snaps than Osweiler will. Jackson emphasized before naming Osweiler that the starter against the Saints won’t necessarily be the starter in the season opener against the Steelers on Sept. 10. That could still be Kizer, the rookie from Notre Dame, but for now Kizer is still third on the depth chart.
“There needs to be a pecking order in order for the leadership to happen the way it needs to,” Kizer
said after learning of the announcement. “My experiences within quarterback competitions was one where there was a 1A, 1B situation and once we finally define that there is a true one guy and that guy was able to take it over and communicate the way he needs to. Brock was named that guy, and this week he’s already out there running things the way he needs to run them as a true one.
“I see a lot of room to take my game to the next level. After watching (tape of the Aug. 4 intrasquad scrimmage), it definitely plays right into where I think I am, and that’s a guy who’s looking to learn as much as I possibly can, a guy who has some consistency things that I need to clean up. There’s still a lot of work for me to do before I become the quarterback that I want to become one day.”
There are conflicting reports on whether the Browns tried to trade Osweiler to Miami before the Dolphins signed Jay Cutler to replace injured Ryan Tannehill. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported “Cleveland really wasn’t interested in parting ways with him.” Benjamin Allbright of ESPN and Yahoo! (@AllbrightNFL) reported the Browns wanted the Dolphins to pay more than half of Osweiler’s salary as well as multiple picks.
Jackson said he is unaware Osweiler’s name came up in trade talks.
Osweiler never worked with the first offense until Aug. 7. He said he has “had maybe a throw here or a throw there” to starting wide receiver Corey Coleman. The last full practice before facing the Saints is Aug. 8.
“At the end of the day, that’s no excuse,” Osweiler said. “Thursday night, I need to find a way to get first downs and move the chains. We will. That work starts today. We’re already out there having conversations.
“I was just with (RB) Duke (Johnson Jr.) for about 10 minutes, and we were simply just talking about two routes, two plays he has. I was like, ‘From this look, this is what I’m thinking, vs. this look, what are you thinking?’ We’re already starting to build that chemistry and we are going to continue that this afternoon.”