On Thursday, Browns G.M. John Dorsey submitted to a radio interview that generated several significant headlines. Browns coach Hue Jackson has now met twice with the media since Dorsey said what he said.
And, based on the transcripts generated by the team, no one directly asked Jackson about the most important thing Dorsey said. Or didn’t say.
Specifically, Dorsey failed to categorically declare that Jackson will be back next year. In neither press conference was Jackson asked to react to Dorsey’s reticence to echo owner Jimmy Haslam’s claim that Jackson will definitely be back.
On Thursday, Jackson was asked whether he feels Dorsey’s support.
“I’m not going to really get into those particular things,” Jackson said. “John Dorsey has been outstanding. He is football 24/7. I have enjoyed getting to know him more and spending time with him and talking about our football team and what we need to do. Obviously, there are some good players in our locker room. The guys work extremely hard. I think John’s big focus is to try to get us more guys as we move forward on our football team that can best help us get this turned and become what we can become. He is walking up and down these halls preaching, ‘Let’s win. Let’s get to winning as fast as we can.’ I appreciate that. He is doing everything he needs to do on his end. We have to continue to keep coaching better and get our guys to play better.”
On Friday, Jackson was asked whether Dorsey explaining that the team needs to get a quarterback affects rookie DeShone Kizer.
“I would hope not at all,” Jackson said. “When you are on the team and playing quarterback, I don’t think you can worry about those things. Just me knowing DeShone, he would tell you he can only worry about what he can control. What he can control is playing well against Baltimore, finishing the season strong. Right now, none of those things matter. Like I said, John is doing an outstanding job in doing what he needs to do to continue to as we move further to put better talent on our team. I think he will look at every area of our football team and see how we can become better.”
Dorsey surely will be looking at every area of the football team. His failure to say “of course” when asked to confirm that Jackson will be back underscores the reality that every aspect of the team is being evaluated.