Cody Kessler showed enough to earn another start for the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns should have seen enough from rookie quarterback Cody Kessler to feel comfortable giving him another starter this weekend.
The bar is set decidedly low when it comes to the Cleveland Browns and rookie quarterbacks.
But even knowing that, Cody Kessler certainly did enough on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins to warrant another start when the Browns take on the Washington Redskins next week.
That may come with a bit of a caveat as the Browns currently have no other viable options at the position – there is simply no reason the team needs to see Charlie Whitehurst on the field – but is also more than just that Kessler is a healthy body to line up behind center.
While not overwhelming, Kessler finished the day 21-of-33 for 244 yards and did not throw an interception (although he did lose a fumble). It’s a problem that Kessler did not get the Browns into the end zone and his internal clock on passing downs needs a lot of work.
But he also deserves credit for his role in bringing the Browns back from an 11-point deficit to send the game into overtime.
And where it not for the woes of the kicking game, Kessler would have done something that the last eight quarterbacks the Browns have drafted failed to do in their debuts – walk off the field as a winner.
“It hurts to lose and it hurts even more when you leave some plays out there,” Kessler said on Monday. “You see things on film that you wish you had done better and things you did well. The first series didn’t go as well as I wanted to, but I felt a lot more comfortable as the game went along.”
As Pro Football Focus put it in their game grade, Kessler was “unremarkable but might be just what the Browns need”:
While the Browns would substitute Terrelle Pryor in on several drives, Kessler wound up taking 36 dropbacks for a franchise reeling from the loss of its primary and secondary options. Kessler completed 16-of-20 aimed passes under 10 yards and, surprisingly, completed five-of-seven beyond 10 yards. The rookie quarterback from USC would top all quarterbacks from the 1 p.m. games with an adjusted completion percentage of 81.8 percent. With Josh McCown unlikely to play in Week 4 at Washington, Kessler could begin to solidify his job leading the Cleveland offense with another solid showing.
During his Monday press conference head coach Hue Jackson praised Kessler’s toughness and the fact that he was able to settle down after a rough start. He also acknowledged that Kessler is still a work in progress, but said the Browns are prepared to have him start against the Redskins.
Kessler may not be Carson Wentz, but he is also a far cry from Johnny Manziel.
And for a Browns team in the early stages of evaluating a broken roster and in dire need of a quarterback healthy enough to start in consecutive weeks, that may be good enough.
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