Browns quarterback Cody Kessler was benched on Thursday night, but he’s not down about it.
Kessler said on Friday that he’s fired up and eager to prove he can be the man to lead the Browns, even if coach Hue Jackson had a quick hook with him during Thursday night’s loss to the Ravens.
“Yeah, it motivates you to want to be better,’' he said, via Cleveland.com. “It motivates you to keep working hard for that to happen. For me, it was ‘if I’m in there I’m going to do everything I can, work as hard as I can and if I come out, I’m going to be the best teammate I can and support the guys.’ It just motivates me to continue to work harder and be that much better.”
Jackson’s decision to bench Kessler during the game was surprising because Kessler hadn’t been playing too badly, completing 11 of 18 passes for 91 yards, with one touchdown and no interceptions. Josh McCown was terrible in Kessler’s place, completing six of 13 passes for 59 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Kessler has been confirmed as the Browns’ starter next week. It’s still possible that Robert Griffin III could return to the lineup late in the season, but from all indications Kessler is the man. And he sounds confident in himself, even if Jackson didn’t show much confidence in him.