The Browns spent Saturday afternoon in Columbus playing for a large crowd as 42,310 were on hand for the annual Orange and Brown Scrimmage at the Horseshoe.
Saturday was the third time that the team has held its annual scrimmage outside of the Cleveland area. Last year, it was also held at the Horseshoe and in 2014 it was held at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium.
One of the major draws in Columbus was Robert Griffin III, who seems to be well in control of the Browns quarterback derby with Josh McCown and rookie Cody Kessler.
Griffin will almost for sure be getting the first snaps Friday when the Browns play their first preseason game against – the Green Bay Packers on the road.
While no announcement has been officially made, Griffin seems to be leading the pack of the current QB’s on the Browns roster for the starting job.
“It’s just about coming out every day and proving it. We want to make sure that everybody earns their spot, earns their keep, and that’s everybody’s goal,” RGIII said in Columbus.
“Every time they step out on the field, they want to put their best foot forward and show (Head) Coach (Hue Jackson) what they can do. He believes in all of us so it’s a lot of fun to go out every day and just prove it.”
Coach Hue Jackson seems to be ready to finally name RGIII the starter, and Saturday made it seem like a decision will be coming very soon – more than likely by Monday, as to who will start the opening preseason game.
“Oh, I’m close. Very close,” Jackson said of naming a starter.
“We’ll know here pretty soon exactly what we’re doing. I’m going to go back and talk to the people that I trust and that I spend a lot of time with making these kind of decisions, and we’ll move forward.”
Griffin has been sharp in most of the Browns sessions thus far in camp, even hitting a sweet touchdown to rookie Corey Coleman that made headlines in 11-on-11 drills.
“I think I’ve said everything every day that everyone is seeing him get better and better every day,” Jackson said. “I’m not surprised. We try to create the right environment for him to be all he can be, and he’s working extremely hard because this is something he really wants to do.
“Obviously, we still have work to do, but I think he’s done a great job thus far. There are still some ladders to climb, and we’re going to keep climbing them.”
Griffin has also been a great locker room guy to this point, another key to bringing him to Cleveland as a free agent. He’s saying all the right things, and now in the next week it looks more than ever he’ll have a chance to prove it in a game against another team.
“I’m excited to be here in Cleveland with the Dawg Pound and with my teammates,” Griffin said Saturday.
“Everyone is hungry to turn this thing around. It starts with the quarterback, and you have to make sure that you’re on point every single day so that guys can follow their leader.”
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