Hue Jackson thinks Brock Osweiler has been “outstanding”

Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson said quarterback Brock Osweiler has been outstanding so far. Is that the case, or is Jackson pumping Osweiler up for a trade?

The Cleveland Browns sent the anti-analytics crowd into a frenzy when they traded for quarterback Brock Osweiler in what may have been the first salary-cap dump trade in NFL history.

The presumption was that Osweiler would be with the Browns only as long as it took for executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown to find a trade partner for the former starter in both Denver and Houston.

That plan has yet to materialize, so now Osweiler finds himself in Organized Team Activities going up against fellow quarterbacks Cody Kessler and DeShone Kizer. (And Kevin Hogan. Everyone always forgets about poor Kevin Hogan).

And through five limited practices, head coach Hue Jackson likes what he has seen from the five-year vet, according to clevelandbrowns.com:

"“Since he has been here, he has been outstanding. I don’t get caught up – I think you guys know me – I don’t judge people by what everybody else says, I kind of judge them by what I see, but everybody has a reputation before them. His was a little bit different. He is not any of that that we saw. The guy has been outstanding in our building, and I think that is what is most important."

"“I went back and watched a little bit of film of him from last year, and he looks much better right now. He is more compact. He is throwing the ball with a lot more velocity. He is doing a lot of good things. He needs to keep growing, just like I said all of our quarterbacks do.”"

So does that mean Osweiler has a chance to unseat Kessler as the presumptive starting quarterback this fall?

Maybe not.

It is important to remember that the effervescent Jackson has never met a quarterback he didn’t like. He is also the same person that claimed the “earth moved” during Robert Griffin III’s workout last year, which led the Browns to mistakenly sign Griffin only to see him be the worst quarterback in the league.

So the occupants of the Kessler bandwagon probably do not have anything to fear at the moment. Although it should be pointed out that getting away from Houston head coach Bill O’Brien, a noted quarterback killer, can only help Osweiler.

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It is far more likely that Jackson just likes it when players hit the field, take things seriously and put in the necessary work. He seems pretty old school that way.

Of course, if Jackson’s words fall into the right ear and another team comes calling about Osweiler, then Sashi Brown would likely be a happy man.