Browns will give RGIII four out of five first-team reps

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Robert Griffin III hasn’t been promised the starting quarterback job in Cleveland, but heading into training camp, it’s his job to lose.

Longtime Browns reporter Tony Grossi said this morning on PFT Live that Griffin will get four out of every five reps with the first-string offense at Browns camp. That strongly suggests that coach Hue Jackson is heading into camp with the idea that Griffin is his starter, and will only change his mind if something surprising happens.

“It’s not an open competition with Josh McCown,” Grossi said.

At the moment, the Browns’ depth chart appears to have Griffin on top, McCown second, rookie third-round draft pick Cody Kessler third and Austin Davis fourth. That can change, but it will probably only change if Griffin either gets hurt or plays so poorly that the Browns’ coaches feel like they have no choice but to demote him. The other quarterbacks simply won’t get many opportunities to win the job.

52 responses to “Browns will give RGIII four out of five first-team reps

  1. Are the Browns just stupid or gluttons for embarrassment? Last two years Manziel now RG III? Neither should have ever been drafted . Neither can play. Browns front office is a joke.

  2. Seems like the smart move to me. The Browns are still a LONG ways away from being good. Not an insult, just the truth. They are listed as the underdog in every single game this year. So why not see if you can get the best out RG3, who still has a lot of potential. If it doesn’t work out, they drafted someone in the 2nd round they can develop for the future.

  3. McCown is 10x the QB that Bob Griffin is at this point in their careers. The Browns couldn’t make a proper decision if their lives depended on it, so they’re kinda just confirming that assertion. I was hoping that McCown would sign with a contender this year, but he will apparently be relegated to cleaning up Bob’s mess in Cleveland. Sad situation for all.

  4. I close my eyes and Picture Lebron on the floor weeping at Oracle Arena…….

    Ahhhhhhh……..

    The Tribe is in 1st place and its the end of July…….

    Not even IR3 at QB can bring me down.

  5. Bobby’s gonna be very good, but that team needs a lot. His issue wasn’t lack of talent, it was lack of maturity. That may be different now. We’ll see

  6. “Hue Jackson is heading into camp with the idea that Griffin is his starter, and will only change his mind if something surprising happens”

    The surprise would be RG3 playing well.

  7. wolfman55h says:
    Jul 26, 2016 8:33 AM
    Are the Browns just stupid or gluttons for embarrassment? Last two years Manziel now RG III? Neither should have ever been drafted . Neither can play. Browns front office is a joke.
    ——
    So RGIII won rookie of the year, had one of the best QB rookie season statistically ever, and lead the Redskins to their first Divisional win in years should NOT have been drafted? Not even 4th round? LOL

  8. RG3 is the poster child for sitting most rookie QBs for their first year. Given time to develop a full set of NFL skills he could have had an interesting career.

    Instead, the pressure is on coaches and GMs to put them out there year one and prove they picked the right guy. RG3 won and still managed to ruin his career.

  9. Finally, the Browns are getting their stuff together.

    They are truly a cerebral bunch. They genuinely seem to know how to take strategic risks, and to see a persons skill set and understand that it is a coaches job to develop weaknesses when you have unique strengths in a player. That is what Carolina does with their talent. They did it with Cam.

    Funny thing, almost all the teams are sprinkling in a little read option to help out their young struggling pocket passers today. It is the beginning of a new day. Pure pocket passers are a sitting duck for these exceptional pass rushers in the league. Anyone who doesn’t get that by now is just looking in the rear view mirror.

    Most of these nay sayers are just surface people. They believe in fools gold and short term fixes. But, a winner needs to think about the long term. Many players who look sharp initially, cannot make it past the tough tests of beating the tougher defenses. And that is what matters in selecting a franchise QB.

  10. This is a good move. McCown is a proven vet that will step in a play at a decent level if called upon, even without reps. Hue is trying to give RGIII every chance possible to revert back to his Offensive Rookie of the Year form. Hue has done very well with QBs in the past. If this does not pan out, it is probably the end as a starter for RGIII.

  11. Josh McCown, please ask the Browns to trade you or just cut you. This PATHETIC organization doesn’t deserve a player or human being of your caliber.
    I said in a previous message…THIS WOULD NOT BE A TRUE COMPETITION AND IT WON’T.
    I have no idea why the Browns are so stuck on the RGIII Bust is beyond reason…but I’m sure you can guess why…

  12. No amount of reps will stop the inevitable. Come week 5…the Browns are going to be obliterated! Then any remnants left will be extinguished on week 11.

  13. I will defer to the expertise of Hue Jackson in the handling of RGIII and the other Browns quarterbacks. He knows what he is doing.

    This is Jackson’s second chance as a head coach and I really think he gained some valuable experience and learned some valuable lessons in his stint with the Raiders. And he was actually pretty good as the head coach of the Raiders except for the trade for Carson Palmer and the attempted power grab from Mark Davis when Al Davis died.

  14. Funny that the new organization puts their guys 1st and 3rd.

    People shouldn’t assume he knows what he is doing. RGIII has been hot garbage for a long time.

    How they expect him to last running the ball and trying to pass behind what is probably one of the, if not the worst lines in football is anyone’s guess.

    Josh McCown is still the best QB on the Browns. Sadly they keep having coaches/GM who…
    a) Don’t find someone better than McCown
    b) Start those crappier QB’s over McCown

    Funny some people actually think RGIII is a franchise QB.

  15. I’ll be pulling for him. Yes, he had a pretty big head coming out of the gate but Shanahan did all he could do to ruin this kid… and pretty much succeeded.

    If Griffin can pull it together it would make for a great comeback story as well as make a monkey out of Shanahan, who is STILL bad mouthing Griffin at every opportunity.

  16. I think they’ll give him every opportunity, but his own shortcomings and the lack of talent around him will lead to the Browns starting 1-4 and we’ll end up seeing all of these quarterbacks play eventually over the course of the season.

    It’s fine, this decision isn’t making or breaking their season, they might as well find out whether they can get more out of him or not as the start a multi-year rebuild. The cupboard is bare.

  17. This is a curious move, especially when you consider that a losing season isn’t the worst option for the Browns. If they go 3-13, they get a high pick and probably draft a QB. If Griffin plays to his potential, then they don’t need to draft a QB. Seems like a win win situation, even if they lose a bunch of games this season.

  18. @jmc8888 Who said they think RG3 is a franchise QB? He is a stop-gap and they hope he regains some of his form from his rookie year.

    Shanahan or Snyder clearly halted his development by shoving his improve style square peg into a pro-qb system round hole.

    They aren’t paying him that much and he might show some promise with Hue. Why not give him a shot?

  19. Josh is better than RGIII by a country mile. I don’t think Hue cares about that. He is trying to see if there is any hope left for RG3 and giving him every chance to learn something. Josh is there to prevent a total, perhaps inevitable, meltdown. And he might teach RG3 a thing or two but I’m not sure RG3 will listen more than that other running fool from Texas….what’s his name, Johnny Manziel. I will decide whether to root for RG3 or against him depending on what kind of humility he shows when the pass rushing dobermans of the AFC North are closing in on him and he can’t handle it. Is he gonna say “my bad” or “their bad”. It’s gonna be bad but is it gonna be good bad?

  20. wolfman55h says:
    Jul 26, 2016 8:33 AM

    Are the Browns just stupid or gluttons for embarrassment? Last two years Manziel now RG III? Neither should have ever been drafted . Neither can play. Browns front office is a joke.
    ===============================
    RG3 will be good again if he just commits to what he does best. running the football.

  21. Birdgang says:
    Jul 26, 2016 11:27 AM
    This is a curious move, especially when you consider that a losing season isn’t the worst option for the Browns. If they go 3-13, they get a high pick and probably draft a QB.

    ———————————————————————
    Since 2000 their average first round pick is 9. They had one year in 2008 that was a low pick. But by and large they get 1, 6, 9, with a couple of low double digits in there. Yet, in that time their average record is 5-10; perennial losers. Why would a high pick in 2017 matter? They obviously have no clue how to pick because with that draft history they should be pretty stacked!

  22. RGme HA, Ha, Ha, just can’t stop laughing at what a joke he is! He has been practicing for how many years and he is still terrible! What a waste of time and money!!

  23. therealraider says:
    Jul 26, 2016 9:39 AM

    “Hue Jackson is heading into camp with the idea that Griffin is his starter, and will only change his mind if something surprising happens”

    The surprise would be RG3 playing well.
    —————————-

    So, if Bob plays well, he won’t be the starter?

  24. “RG3 will be good again if he just commits to what he does best. running the football.”

    Well he’ll be fast injured again seems most likely if he does that.

  25. They have to stop every four throws so he can go retrieve all the balls he whipped over that there fence.

  26. For everyone saying how great McCown is. He was extremely mediocre until he had been in the league 10 yr. Be patient judge RG3 like a rookie.

  27. Typical. This is why the Browns deserve the basement. They can never stop shooting themselves in the foot.

    Last year, Josh McCown only played in 8 games, but in those 8 games, he went 12 TDs to 4INTs, racked up several games with 300 or more yards passing, had a 64% completion percentage, and had a QB rating of 93.6.

    Of any Browns QB, he was the only one who looked like he had a clue. And by the way, let’s not forget that he played very well at his position, despite having a joke of a WR corps, a mediocre (at best) running game, and a defense that only showed up in one out of every 3 or 4 games. Think of what he might have been able to do if actually surrounded by teammates playing up to their potential.

    But nope, no consistency in Cleveland. No reward for a job well done. As is typical, the Browns take the players with good individual performances and either trade them or demote them.

    I don’ty want to root against anyone on my own team (except Manziel- I had no problem doing that…), but if RGIII comes out looking like dog crap, I hope they put Josh in and leave him in.

  28. Reunion of RGIII and Gordon, with neither covering themselves in glory on they way.

  29. “Last two years Manziel now RG III? Neither should have ever been drafted . Neither can play.”

    Your ignorance is showing. Griffin had one of the top rookie QB seasons in the history of the NFL, winning rookie of the year. Injuries ruined him, but he definitely deserved to be drafted. I mean, come on.

  30. McCown is good fill-in, but Browns aren’t going to win much this year regardless, and he is certainly not their future. RGIII has talent, but nobody really knows if it can translate to NFL or if he can remain healthy. Still, Browns aren’t risking much to find out. I thought they should have drafted Lynch–not a threat to RGIII next year, and if RGIII bombs or can’t stay healthy, Lynch would be ready in 2017. As it is, if RGIII doesn’t work out, and they draft QB next year, it’ll be ANOTHER year waiting to have a chance to be competitive.
    Aside: Browns did great job of accumulating picks–and then drafted players higher than other draft analysts rated them. Will be interesting: Analytics really effective–or just a way to keep Haslam out of the draft.

  31. You better get Shanahan coaching Griffin if you want any success. He had the best statistical year in the history of the NFL as a rookie. Snyder and Griffin wanted to run a different offense his 2nd year and Shanahan was quoted he would get cut by the Redskins before his rookie contract was over.He was quoted that RG3 was not ready to run a different style offense.Shanahan was right and RG3 will get benched quickly unless they hire Shanahan to run a offense that fits his skill set. Why do you think he got cut from Washington where Snyder and Allen love him.

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