The Cleveland Browns remain winless entering Week 16 of the NFL season, and Hue Jackson’s concern about DeShone Kizer is a discouraging sign for the quarterback’s future with the organization.
Following the team’s 27-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Jackson said Kizer took a step back in another poor performance.
“He has some work to do. I think that is a fair question if he will ever get it. I think he will, but he has to keep working.”
Improvement is not linear, but it would be useful for Cleveland to see some positive signs from the rookie. That’s simply not happening often enough in 2017.
In fairness to Kizer, the quarterback carousel Jackson ran earlier in the season didn’t help. The constant start-him, bench-him ridiculousness wasn’t fair to Kizer, and it’s completely understandable if that quickly shook his confidence.
But once the Browns finally committed to Kizer, things didn’t really change. Even in his best outing, an overtime loss to the Aaron Rodgers-less Green Bay Packers, Kizer threw a mind-numbing interception that set up Green Bay’s game-winning score.
With either a loss or a New York Giants win during the final two weeks, Cleveland will officially secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Knowing that the team’s top priority this offseason is finding a quarterback, Jackson’s comments could be viewed as a way of further distancing himself from Kizer as the starter. The Browns can pursue Baker Mayfield or, if they declare early, Josh Rosen or Sam Darnold in the upcoming draft.
Jackson may legitimately believe Kizer will figure it out eventually, and it’d be foolish to suggest one rough season means that’s an impossibility. But there’s no guarantee Kizer will have a chance to prove himself in Cleveland beyond 2017.