New Cleveland Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer already has his eye on the team’s starting quarterback job.
“Being the competitor that I am, the best way to go out and contribute is to be playing yourself,” Kizer said Saturday during his introductory press conference with the Cleveland media. I’m going to do whatever I can to learn as fast as I can, as quickly as I can, to play. That’s the reason you play football is to play, not to sit around and watch for the sidelines. I’ll do whatever I can to contribute as quickly as I can.”
Kizer was introduced alongside the team’s third round pick Larry Ogunjobi. Kizer handled a bulk of the questions, most centering on his readiness for the NFL and his place on the team’s depth chart.
The Browns have a quarterback competition shaping up that features Brock Osweiler and Cody Kessler. Kizer could very well join that battle should he pick up head coach Hue Jackson’s playbook quickly.
“About how much work needs to go into these next couple months,” Kizer said. “There’s a clear message that that playbook’s pretty big and I’m going to have to dive into it if I’m going to have any opportunity to try and compete early.”
Jackson met with the media on a conference call Friday night. He said all the team’s quarterbacks will have an opportunity to compete for the job.
Cleveland has started 26 different quarterbacks since 1999, almost two decades of incompetence at the position. Kizer said he’s aware of those struggles, and hopes he's part of turning that around.
“Obviously the history here at the quarterback position is one that’s been recognized from quite a few people, and I’m just looking to do whatever I can be a help to that,” said Kizer, wearing a grey jacket over a lavender shirt. “I don’t know whether that means competing with the guy next to me and pushing him or playing myself, but I’m going to do whatever I can to just contribute to this team as much as I can.”
Kizer didn’t have to wait long for his chance at Notre Dame. He redshirted during the 2014 season, then started 11 games as a sophomore in 2015. He followed that up with a disappointing junior year in 2016, leading the Irish to a 4-8 record.
He said he hopes he gets an opportunity to play early, the best way he knows how to learn.
“I’d be pretty excited,” Kizer said when asked about being a first-year starter. “I would prepare as hard as I possibly can. The ultimate goal to me is to be able to contribute to this team as much as I possibly can and as early as I possibly can. If that comes from me playing early, I’d be more than happy to take on that role.”
Kizer said he knows he has a lot of work to do. His footwork needs cleaning up, something quarterbacks coach David Lee and Jackson have expertise in.
And though he slipped in the draft, Kizer believes he’s in the right spot.
“God always has a plan. His plan is in action now,” Kizer said. “After spending as much time as I was able to spend with (Cleveland Browns general manager) Sashi (Brown) and the coaches here, there’s an obvious correlation and relationship we were able to create which is good for me.
“When I saw that opportunity to go at that 52nd pick, I was more than excited to know that there’s going to be a chance that I was going to be a Cleveland Brown. When that call came through, it all came to fruition.”
Other notes from Kizer’s press conference:
• Kizer’s reaction when he got the call from the Browns on Friday: “When I saw that 404 area code come through, I was pretty excited.”
• Kizer’s parents were both in attendance for his press conference Saturday.
• Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly shot Kizer a text Friday congratulating Kizer on his selection, Kizer said. Kelly was in attendance for the first round in Philadelphia. Kizer said he was “disappointed” he wasn’t selected in the first round.
“As the competitor that I am, I’d have liked to go on the first day,” said Kizer, who watched the selection from his hometown of Toledo, Ohio. “At the same time, to walk out of that green room was an honor to be considered one of the top guys, respected as one of the top prospects, was amazing. My family had a great time, but I knew I wanted to get back and also be able to experience the next couple days with just my family and to take the cameras and media away from it and truly just enjoy the moment.”
• Kizer said he’s met former Notre Dame and Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn “once or twice.” Kizer said he understands what Quinn — a second-round draft pick in 2007 — went through in Cleveland and will use it as an asset in his own career.
• On what he’s gained from his two years as the starter at Notre Dame: “The responsibility of being the quarterback at Notre Dame covers all that. In that last two-and-a-half years there, I was able to see a little bit of everything. The experience of having some success in 2015 and then not having so much success in 2016 allowed me to see it all from every perspective. Going back and reflecting on both of those seasons, I’ll be able to pull from all that for the next couple years and make sure I do whatever it takes to get back to winning the way I know how.”
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