Brock Osweiler 'absolutely' think he's good enough to be Browns' starting QB
Brock Osweiler might have initially been an afterthought for the Cleveland Browns when the team took on his contract in a March trade to acquire a second-round draft pick from the Houston Texans.
But it's late May, and Osweiler remains on the Browns roster, and he said he’s hoping to prove to coach Hue Jackson that he should be Cleveland’s starting quarterback. The Browns have said second-year quarterback Cody Kessler is currently No. 1.
“My expectation is always to start. But that’s not my decision to make,” Osweiler said Wednesday in his first news conference since the trade. “If came out here and told you guys I wanted to be the backup, I’m in the wrong business. Absolutely I want to play, and I want to help this team win football games. I know there’s a lot of work that goes into that, and ultimately I have to earn that on the practice field, and I have a lot of work ahead of me to do that.”
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The March trade between the Browns and Texans was one of the most stunning moves of the offseason. In essence, it was a move to clear Osweiler – and his $16 million guaranteed salary for 2017 – off Houston's books. Osweiler said he didn’t have any warning the deal was in the works and was in a sand trap on a golf course in Arizona when he got the call with the news.
He showed up for the start of the Browns’ offseason workout program in April and said he was committing himself to working on his throwing fundamentals under quarterbacks coach David Lee while showing the Browns he could be a good teammate.
Wednesday, he declined several chances to answer questions about what went wrong in his one year in Houston, both on the field (he threw 15 touchdown passes with 16 interceptions and only completed 59% of his throws) and off it (with rumors of discord between him and coach Bill O’Brien).
Instead, he spoke of his opportunity in Cleveland and said he “absolutely” thinks he is good enough to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
“I think the proof is in the film for the past two years,” Osweiler said.
Osweiler started seven games for the Denver Broncos in 2015 in relief of Peyton Manning. He went 5-2 in those starts but was benched in the third quarter of Denver’s Week 17 game and did not play during the Broncos’ postseason run to the Super Bowl 50 title.
In the ensuing offseason, he signed a four-year, $72 million contract, including $37 million guaranteed, with the Texans.
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
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