DeShone Kizer taking latest development in stride

Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer may be third string for now, but his chance should come at some point this season.

Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson made the only logical choice he could on Monday by naming Brock Osweiler as the starting quarterback for Thursday night’s preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints.

Osweiler is the most accomplished of the three quarterbacks on the roster, which may not be saying much, but is true nonetheless.

The announcement was a disappointment for those inhabitants of the DeShone Kizer bandwagon, a group that is ready to see the latest rookie quarterback start immediately, no matter the consequences.

But the consensus when Kizer was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft was that he was going to need time to acclimate his game to the NFL. While there is never a clear timetable for situations like this, it is clear that a handful of training camp practices was not going to do the trick.

Even though he is temporarily the third quarterback on the roster, Kizer will still see plenty of action against the Saints and again on Aug. 21 against the New York Giants, Jackson told clevelandbrowns.com:

"“I don’t think anything is really over right now. DeShone is progressing. Cody is progressing. I just have to get them more snaps in a game of playing and that is what I am trying to do. When you sit down and think through it all, and you think what is best for our football team, it is best for me to trot Brock out there, see if he can go lead this offense and lead the team, and in the process, keep getting these young guys more reps of playing football. They just need to play.”"

Rather than pout about the change in circumstances, or mentally check out like we’ve seen with previous rookie quarterbacks, Kizer is taking things in stride and will continue to do what he can to earn more time, according to the team’s website:

"“It is my job to perform when he (Jackson) calls my number. If it is with ones, twos, threes, if it is a preseason rep, a training camp rep, a game rep, whenever my number is called, I am going to go play. Everything that I have been doing up until now to try to develop and become the best quarterback I can. Whenever my number is called, I will go out there and perform the way I know how to.”"

The job may now belong to Osweiler, but how tenuous his grasp is on the starter’s role remains to be seen. If he progresses over the next few weeks he makes it easier for Jackson to hold off on rushing Kizer onto the field.

Next: Browns release first unofficial depth chart

But if he struggles or suffers an injury, the opportunity for Kizer to take over could present itself. If this was any team other than the Browns, that would probably not be very likely. But for a team that hasn’t had a quarterback start a full season of games since Tim Couch in 2001, Jackson will be turning to his backup quarterbacks at some point in the coming months.

Hopefully Kizer will be ready to answer the call.