The Browns refuse to rush DeShone Kizer, with coach Hue Jackson saying the team will stick to its plan regardless of the pressure to play the rookie sooner than later.
Jackson said he isn’t ready to name Kizer the starter for the Aug. 21 preseason game against the Giants or the season opener against the Steelers.
“I just think that’s too soon,’' Jackson said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I mean I don’t feel very comfortable. That’s why I haven’t made that decision. There’s a process to all of this, and I think we’re just in the beginning phases of it for him. You want to do what’s best for your team and for your players, not just because a people see a bomb that’s thrown down the field for 45 yards. There’s more to playing quarterback than just that.’'
Kizer played in the second half, following Brock Osweiler and Cody Kessler, in the preseason opener Thursday night. He completed 11 of 18 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown for a 114.1 passer rating. He excited Browns fans with two fourth-quarter bombs, including a game-winning, 45-yard touchdown pass.
Kizer may have elevated himself at least to No. 2, or possibly the starting job, for the team’s next preseason game on Aug. 21.
“It’s the making of a quarterback,’' Jackson said. “It’s the raising of a quarterback, and that takes time. I don’t think you do things out of a knee-jerk reaction. You just don’t make decisions to make them. You kind of let things play themselves out, and they will. And if a guy is good enough and deserving of an opportunity, trust me, we’re not in a position where we wouldn’t give the best player an opportunity. So we’ll continue to work through this and when we think the time is right, whenever that is, then we’ll make that decision.”