BEREA: Robert Griffin III playfully reminded everyone he’s on the fast track to winning the Browns’ quarterback derby when asked about incumbent starter Josh McCown, rookie third-round draft pick Cody Kessler and Austin Davis pushing him.
Emphasis on fast.
“Obviously, there’s only one of us that runs 4.3,” Griffin quipped, bragging about his 40-yard dash time. “But they like to race me a lot, little things, ‘Got you, Rob.’ OK, I understand, but it’s just a fun environment to be around.
“When we step out on the field, we’re competing, but there’s no reason for us to be competing with our notes closed or with a cold shoulder. All of us are out there together trying to get better and win.”
Coach Hue Jackson has vowed to name a starting quarterback before the Aug. 12 preseason opener at the Green Bay Packers, and Griffin is the favorite to secure the job.
Griffin, 26, took all of the snaps with the starters Friday during the first practice of training camp and received the vast majority of them throughout the spring. McCown, 37, worked exclusively with the second unit as camp kicked off.
“We all recognize and understand that Josh is an older quarterback. He’s been around for a while, and I think the younger guys need to get the lion’s share [of reps],” Jackson said. “I don’t think Josh needs to take a ton of reps. I think he knows how to do it and what to do.”
Neither Griffin nor McCown had a spectacular outing Friday, but McCown made more plays just like he did in the spring. Nevertheless, Jackson clearly wants to give Griffin every chance to revive his career coming off a season in which the 2012 NFL offensive rookie of the year was demoted to third string and didn’t play before being cut by Washington. Griffin took the league by storm four years ago as a dual threat, and Jackson thinks he has the same ability now that he had then.
“I know people have questioned where he is physically. I don’t see that. He’s still Robert Griffin, the same guy that came out in 2012, but just wiser,” Jackson said. “He’s been through a lot of different systems and a lot of different things, and I think he has grown by leaps and bounds. We still have a ways to go, but we’ll get there.”
As for McCown, he’s the ultimate ambassador for a team-first mentality, voicing support for Jackson’s decision to name a starter before the exhibition opener, even though the timeline increases the odds he’ll be Griffin’s backup. It’s difficult to imagine Griffin losing the job in the 11 practices the Browns scheduled before meeting the Packers.
“Sometimes if it drags out and lingers, it can be a distraction. You name a guy and move forward, and everybody gets behind that guy,” McCown said of Jackson naming a starter sooner than later. “I trust [Jackson’s] leadership on that. I’m in favor of that. It is what’s best for the team.”
Griffin knows he must improve to produce like he did when he led Washington to the playoffs and made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. He worked with throwing guru Tom House, an ally of Jackson, in Los Angeles during summer vacation. (Kessler also trained under House, but McCown did not.)
“It’s all about consistency in this game and having consistent fundamentals, consistent drops and all those things,” Griffin said. “I really harped on that and focused on that to make sure that every time I take a three-step drop, it looks the same. Every time I take a five, it looks the same. It helps you in a lot of areas. It helps your receivers stay in rhythm. It helps you stay in rhythm and helps you give less keys to the defense.”
Whether Griffin can continue to improve those techniques against a live defense remains to be seen. Either way, he doesn’t want to press during the quarterback race.
“Go have fun, know that you know what you’re doing and let it all hang out there,” Griffin said. “You’ve got nothing to lose.”
Should Griffin falter, McCown is the top fallback option.
“Every rep that I get, I’m going to play as if I’m the starter,” McCown said.
McCown said he hopes the Browns keep him, but he knows his future with them is uncertain. An injury to a quarterback on another team could prompt them to trade him.
Meanwhile, Griffin has a “nothing is guaranteed” mentality about the quarterback competition. This situation shouldn’t faze him, though.
“I’ve had the opportunity to face a lot of obstacles in my career, and I think they’ve helped build me up and allowed me to handle any situation, so every time I step out here, I’m not really worried about what I’ve been through,” Griffin said. “I can see the game through Hue’s eyes and [quarterbacks coach] Pep [Hamilton’s] eyes, and I’ll go out there and execute it the way they want it to be executed, play the game freely and let your natural skill show.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.