GREEN BAY, WIS.: Practice doesn’t always make perfect.
Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III has yet to throw an interception during team drills in training camp, but he had one in a 17-11 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the preseason opener Friday night at Lambeau Field.
Griffin turned in a roller-coaster ride of a performance in his first outing against a live pass rush as a member of the Browns. He made a couple of high-quality throws, absorbed some hits, committed a turnover and failed to produce points.
“We hurt ourselves a little bit too much,” Griffin said. “Can’t throw an interception. I’ve got to protect the ball, and outside of that, I thought the execution was there. But there’s definitely potential for more big plays out of us and we know that.”
Named the starter Monday, Griffin and the first-team offense played two series and totaled 11 snaps. He completed 4-of-8 passes for 67 yards with an interception and a passer rating of 39.1.
Griffin faced a makeshift No. 1 defense for one drive (none of the Packers’ four starting linebackers played). He encountered the Packers’ No. 2 defense during his second and final series.
Griffin got off to a hot start, completing his first three passes with a fumbled snap and recovery interrupting the sequence. On the offense’s first play, he connected with wide receiver Terrelle Pryor for 49 yards on a go route. He hooked up with tight end Gary Barnidge for 7 yards. On third-and-6 at the Packers’ 27, he hit Pryor with an 8-yard pass on an out route.
Then on second-and-12 at the Packers’ 21, Griffin tried to go back to Barnidge over the middle, but they weren’t on the same page. Perhaps Barnidge should have cut in front of safety Micah Hyde. Either way, Hyde dived to pick off the pass at the goal line with 5:05 left in the first quarter.
“I’ve just got to throw it to Gary. I can’t throw it to Micah,” Griffin said. “He made a great play, and me and Gary will continue to get on the same page just like all the rest of the receivers, and it’s going to come with time.
“That’s all on me. I’ve just got to get the ball to him and not give the DB a chance to make a play. So we’ll go back, watch it on tape, but I’m on the one with the ball in my hands, and I’m the one making the decision, so that’s not on Gary at all. That’s on me.”
Griffin wasn’t the only one who blamed himself for the interception.
“I’m going to take responsibility for that because at the end of day I think when we get down there I’ve got to do a better job of making sure he understands we’ve got to take care of the ball better,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “It’s unfortunate he tried to stick a ball in there in that situation.
“I’ve just got to make sure I put him in those situations enough times so that doesn’t happen. So that’s a learning experience for him that he’s got to grow from, especially when we’re in that situation. When we have a chance to score, we have to do a great job of taking care of the ball.
“I think the coverage, [Barnidge and Griffin] thought it was one thing, and it changed at the last second. That’s not Barnidge. That’s not Rob. We just need to do that a little bit better, and we will.”
On Griffin’s second series, he followed a 3-yard completion to Barnidge with three incomplete passes.
An offensive line with major question marks at center and right tackle did little to prove it’ll adequately protect Griffin, whose long injury history contributed to his well-documented descent from the 2012 offensive rookie of the year in Washington to a third-string player last season.
Griffin took a low hit when center Cameron Erving gave up pressure. He absorbed another blow when right tackle Austin Pasztor didn’t maintain a block. Blown protection on a screen led to his involvement in another collision.
“You’re going to get hit every now and then,” Griffin said. “And after our two series of playing, I got a chance to go talk to the offensive line and they’re telling me, ‘Hey, we’re going to be better.’ And I’m telling them, ‘Hey, I’m going to be better.’
“That’s what you want. No one’s pointing the finger at anyone. It’s just all of us trying to get to our goal, and our end goal is to win football games. So if that means I get hit five times a game or 10 times a game, if we win the game, that’s all that matter.”
It was the first time Griffin had encountered a live pass rush since last summer. Buried on the depth chart behind Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy in Washington, he didn’t take a snap during the 2015 regular season.
“I haven’t been hit in a long time,” Griffin said. “I was telling coach and some of the guys, ‘You don’t want to get hit. But it feels good to just be back playing football and it’s truly a blessing.’ So going out there on the field, there’s no nerves or anxiousness. It’s just excitement to be back out on the field playing the game that you love with great people. So I’m excited about it, and I can’t wait to get back to practice.”
Jackson said he thought Griffin handled the rush well.
“He had great poise. I think everything was great. Obviously, the first play was outstanding,” Jackson said. “Then I think after that, maybe not playing [last season], whatever that is, I just [see] some things we just got to continue to harp on, not just him, just our whole offensive football team.
“I didn’t expect [that performance from our offense]. I would never expect this, but at the same time, we all know these things are capable of happening when you travel and go somewhere else and play against a different opponent because we had our opportunities to score and obviously when you do that, you build confidence. But we didn’t get it done. So we’ll go back and go back to work.”
Griffin hopes to work with his full arsenal of receivers sooner than later. Rookie Corey Coleman and Andrew Hawkins (hamstrings) sat out as well as Josh Gordon (quadriceps).
“When everyone’s healthy, we have the potential to be an extremely explosive offense. But that’s just potential at this point, so we need those guys to get back out there, and we’ve got to continue to work to make sure we’re not hurting ourselves,” Griffin said. “And when we didn’t hurt ourselves, we moved the ball up and down the field and that was encouraging to see how the offense that Coach Jackson’s put in, along with [associate head coach-offense] Pep Hamilton, is an extremely fun one to play in.
“It’s got a lot of options. So it’s going to give us opportunities to make plays, but we have to make sure we’re smart about it and play winning football. We didn’t do that tonight, but it starts with me, and I’ll make sure we get the group ready to roll.”
Backup quarterback Josh McCown entered the game when the Browns took possession with 14:12 left in the second quarter. He played two series, completing 1-of-4 passes for 5 yards with a passer rating of 39.6. His 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Connor Hamlett with 9:09 left in the second quarter was wiped out because he was beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball.
The Browns’ starting defense played just one series and allowed a couple of first downs but held the Packers scoreless. Two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and his primary backup, Brett Hundley, were given the night off, so undrafted rookie Joe Callahan started at quarterback.
Although the Packers’ opening drive ended with a punt, it shouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. Rookie fourth-round draft pick Joe Schobert ran into the punter on fourth-and-three, granting the Packers a first down before their offense stalled again three plays later.
Schobert’s gaffe wasn’t the only special teams miscue. After backup nose tackle Jamie Meder tackled running back James Starks for a safety to give the Browns a 2-0 lead with 5:01 left in the first quarter, Raheem Mostert muffed the ensuing punt. Four plays later, Packers kicker Mason Crosby made the first of his two 54-yard field goals, giving the Packers a 3-2 lead with 3:06 left in the first quarter.
Patrick Murray continued to separate himself from fellow Browns kicker Travis Coons by making a 46-yard field goal with 9:05 left in the second quarter. The Packers scored the first touchdown when Callahan threw a 2-yard pass to wide-open running back John Crockett with seven seconds left before halftime.
After Crosby’s second 54-yard field goal, Browns rookie quarterback Cody Kessler threw an 10-yard touchdown pass on a back-shoulder fade to rookie wide receiver Rashard Higgins with 3:13 left in the third quarter. It was Kessler’s first pass in an NFL exhibition game.
But Kessler, a third-round pick, also had embarrassing moments.
After cornerback Eric Patterson intercepted a pass from Packers quarterback Marquise Williams at the Browns’ 1 with 10:01 left in the fourth quarter, Kessler ran out of the back of the end zone while attempting a pass under pressure from linebacker Reggie Gilbert. The safety gave the Packers a 15-11 lead and left Jackson shaking his head on the sideline.
The Packers got another safety off Kessler when defensive tackle Christian Ringo sacked him with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter.
In-game injuries
Browns third-string quarterback Austin Davis suffered a concussion in the third quarter. Cornerback Warren Gatewood appeared to strike Davis in the helmet with a knee on a 6-yard run by the quarterback.
Browns backup wide receiver Rannell Hall suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter and did not return.