Almost every day I spend covering the Browns at team headquarters, FirstEnergy Stadium or on the road, there are too many news items, notes and observations to fit into the newspaper. So this blog is designed to feature the nuggets that don't appear in print. They're like deleted scenes on a Blu-ray/DVD or the youth football players who ride the pine during the game but get to shine afterward in an extra session often called "The Fifth Quarter."
Here are some leftovers from the Browns' 17-11 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the preseason opener Friday night at Lambeau Field.
Rookie moments
Rookie Cody Kessler entered the game with 3:17 left in the third quarter after fellow Browns quarterback Austin Davis suffered a concussion during the offense's previous possession. On his first play in an NFL exhibition game, Kessler threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Rashard Higgins on a back-shoulder fade.
If Kessler's night could have ended then, it would have been much more pleasant.
That's because Kessler threw an incomplete pass on a two-point attempt and then did the following on the next three series: took a safety, took a sack as the offense went three-and-out and took another safety.
The first safety was particularly embarrassing.
Oh dear. Cody Kessler drops back... And goes out of the back of the end zone.
— NFL (@NFL) August 13, 2016
That's a safety. #CLEvsGB https://t.co/MfHUEEkHNy
On first-and-10 at the Browns' 1-yard line, Kessler dropped back and rolled to his right under pressure from linebacker Reggie Gilbert. But before Kessler threw the ball, he inadvertently stepped out of bounds in the back of the end zone, giving the Packers two points via a safety.
The play evoked memories of Dan Orlovsky running out of the back of the end zone for a safety during the Detroit Lions' 0-16 season in 2008.
To Kessler's credit, he repeatedly explained what happened without hanging his head.
"That's on me. I've got to see that," said Kessler, a third-round draft pick from the University of Southern California and the Browns' fourth-string quarterback. "When I was rolling back, I saw that second line behind the end zone, and I thought I had room. I was going back and that second end zone line, in my head as I was spotting it, I thought OK, I had to the back of that line.
"That's why when I threw it, they called safety, and I looked down and I was like, 'No, oh.' It kind of caught me [off guard]. But it's not an excuse. I've got to [have] more awareness on that and know where I'm at on the field, and I've got to see that. The fact that I looked at the second line and kept thinking I had more room is still on me. It's not an excuse. I've got to do better."
This tweet provides a visual of the lines in the back of the end zone to which Kessler referred:
#Browns QB Cody Kessler said he thought he had room b/c he saw 2nd line when he ran out back of end zone for safety pic.twitter.com/A0pECe2mmu
— Nate Ulrich (@NateUlrichABJ) August 13, 2016
Kessler said he thinks he'll receive a ribbing on social media for the blooper.
"Oh, yeah. That doesn't bother me. I got plenty of that at USC. Social media was something I never let get to me," he said. "It's just a learning experience for me. I look at it as I've got to fix that. It can't happen."
On the Browns' final possession, Kessler was sacked by defensive tackle Christian Ringo for the other safety.
"We had a play down the field and it just kind of broke down, and I wish I could've gotten the ball out of my hand a little bit quicker," Kessler said. "But it's just a learning experience for me."
Kessler's statistics (2-of-2 passing for 15 yards and a touchdown with a rating of 137.5) couldn't be more deceiving.
"I guess it started as a high night, then low, went back and forth, kind of got my feet wet a little bit," he said. "But, yeah, those are mistakes that are on me, and I've got to fix both of those."
Browns coach Hue Jackson shook his head on the sideline after the first safety.
"We're going to grow from that," Jackson said. "It was his first opportunity out. It's unfortunate. But I'm going to take responsibility for all those things. I've got to coach this group better, and we will. We'll get them better."
Blocking issues
Starting quarterback Robert Griffin III took a few shots in his two series behind an offensive line with question marks at center and right tackle.
Blown protection on a screen led to linebacker Blake Martinez hitting Griffin.
"It was a screen play and the 'backer blitzed, and he’s supposed to stay on the guy for x amount of seconds and he let him go and I was trying to get out on the screen and the running back got caught up and it was a mixture of a couple different things -- execution and being sharp," center Cam Erving said. "As far as being blamed for it, we as an offensive line, we know what happened, we know, we saw it, we fixed it and we’re going to try to make sure that that doesn’t happen again, but it’s football. Things like that happen."
So how did the running game go for the starting O-line? Isaiah Crowell ran once for a loss of 2 yards and Duke Johnson ran once for 11 yards behind the first-string line.
"We want to dominate the game rushing," Erving said. "But tonight it was a little slow. We couldn't get it started early. But they're small things we've got to fix."
Quotable
Browns nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas on quarterback-turned-wide receiver Terrelle Pryor, who had two catches for 57 yards against the Packers: "I think he can be a huge weapon for us. He's got a huge body. He can catch the ball. He can run. Putting guys like that on the field puts pressure on the defense, so the more times we can get him out there and get him experience at playing receiver, the better it's going to be once our season starts."
The first string (stories that appeared in print and/or elsewhere on Ohio.com)