BEREA: Coach Hue Jackson is starting to look wiser by the week for telling fans “trust me” when the Browns drafted rookie quarterback Cody Kessler in the third round.
Kessler provided the Browns with a glaring bright spot Sunday in a 28-26 loss to the Tennessee Titans, leaving Jackson to compare the University of Southern California product to other quarterbacks he’s coached in the past.
“This guy’s playing as good as I’ve had in a long time,” Jackson said Monday. “There’s no question about that, and there’s some things he can still do better to play even better. We’ve got to get those things corrected and move forward.”
Two areas of concern stick out for Kessler as the Browns (0-6) prepare to face the Cincinnati Bengals (2-4) on the road Sunday.
Jackson wanted Kessler to “pull the trigger” sooner on a failed two-point attempt with the Browns trailing 28-19 with 2:07 left in the fourth quarter. After Kessler realized wide receiver Terrelle Pryor was double-covered on a fade route, he saw rookie receiver Ricardo Louis flash open but waited too long to throw. The pass went behind Louis and fell incomplete.
“I thought we had the right play call in the right situation,” Jackson said. “We just didn’t execute it as well as we could.”
The other thing is the Browns converted just 3-of-14 third downs (21 percent) against legendary defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who improved to 28-3 against rookie QBs since 1995. Kessler had been excellent on third down in his previous three starts, completing 20-of-25 passes (80 percent) with a 106.5 rating.
“The biggest Achilles’ heel for us the other day was our third-down conversion rate,” Jackson said. “That is the first place when I look at Cody’s performance that he needs to continue to step up. He is playing against a very experienced defensive coordinator who did try to do some things to throw us off a little bit. I would think he succeeded in that endeavor.”
Kessler will have a shot to improve in those facets during his fifth consecutive start Sunday.
“There’s no question,” Jackson said when asked if Kessler would start. “He’s our starting quarterback right now.”
Jackson explained veteran quarterback Josh McCown, who suffered a fractured left collarbone Sept. 18, still hasn’t been cleared to play in a game despite practicing last week. The coach added McCown probably won’t be cleared in time to face the Bengals, who employed Jackson as their offensive coordinator for the past two seasons.
“I’m not going to get into a debate about who the quarterback is [for the rest of the season] right now, especially when one is still not even cleared,” Jackson said. “So Cody’s the quarterback and on we go.”
Kessler completed 26-of-41 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns without an interception against the Titans. His passer rating was 105.3. His 336 passing yards are second most by a rookie in Browns history.
According to ProFootballFocus.com, Kessler’s adjusted completion percentage after two drops, two throwaways and a batted pass was 73.7. He received the second best grade from PFF among players on the Browns offense. When he was under pressure, his passer rating was 99.5, and it was 124.7 when he was blitzed, per the website.
“I have done some things well, but at the end of the day, I look at the win-loss record,” Kessler said. “That is the most important to me. This team is what is most important to me, and that is why I’m not as excited as I would be if we won those games. That is my biggest thing. The stats and everything and making plays and all that are nice and helps your team win, but at the end of the day, you want to win the game.”
The Browns flirted with pulling that off because Kessler led a late rally after they fell behind by 15 points with 6:43 left in the fourth quarter.
“He’s growing week to week,” Jackson said. “One week he is staying in the pocket to make plays, and yesterday he was making plays outside the pocket. He made some huge plays outside the pocket. He continues to impress with his courage. He stands in there. He gets walloped a few times. He gets back up, he stands up and on he goes.
“To watch our quarterback play under duress and still make plays, that’s part of playing in the National Football League. Now there’s some third-down things we can do better and need to do better. But I think he’s growing week by week, moment by moment, play by play. He’s got to continue to do that.”
The Titans registered 11 quarterback hits, including six sacks, but Kessler insisted he’s fine physically. He entered the game with a painful injury to his chest and rib area suffered Oct. 9 in a 33-13 loss to the New England Patriots.
“I came out of it OK, which was important for me, obviously, to come out healthy,” Kessler said. “Just a little sore here and there but nothing injury wise.”
Added Jackson: “The guy fights and he battles, but I’m sure he’s sore. But if I know him, he’s ready to go. If we had to play today, he’d go out and play.”
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.