CLEVELAND, Ohio - It took 27 days for Hue Jackson to go from "this young man gives us hope," to putting DeShone Kizer on the bench.
Less than a month isn't long enough to give up on a rookie quarterback, so we have to believe that Jackson didn't mean what he said back on Sept. 11, the day after a season-opening loss to Pittsburgh, not when a three-point halftime deficit Sunday in a winnable game causes you to abandon what you'd so eagerly embraced.
The Chicago Bears and Houston Texans opened the season with undistinguished veterans blocking rookie quarterbacks, while the Browns dove in head-first by dispatching Brock Osweiler and handing the franchise to Kizer, as Jackson announced even earlier, after the third preseason game, "he has the right feel for me and for what I'm looking for.