BEREA — The call never came.
That’s a good thing.
Rookie quarterback Taylen Green said he didn’t know what to expect Sunday during NFL cutdown day. He appeared to be on the bubble as the Browns weighed whether to keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, and went about his day.
Notes: Luke Floriea isn’t re-signed to practice squad
Late in the afternoon the news broke. Green had made the roster, and Dillon Gabriel (back) was placed on injured reserve for at least the first four games.
“It was definitely a blessing. It’s a dream come true, again,” Green said Monday before practice. “Just woke up, went to church, then was just enjoying my day off.
“I didn’t get a call or a text to come in. So I was just excited and saw the post and had a lot of family and friends text me and stuff.”
Green wasn’t sure if not getting a call was good or bad.
“It’s my first time, so I don’t know,” he said. “I hope that’s good news.”
The Browns avoided making a choice between Gabriel and Green — and risk losing one on the waiver wire — or sacrificing a roster spot at a different position when Gabriel was placed on IR. He was outstanding Thursday night in the preseason finale — 12-for-15 for 186 yards, three touchdowns and a 157.9 passer rating — but coach Todd Monken said the back was injured on a run during the game.
Dillon Gabriel to open season on IR with back injury; rookie Taylen Green is No. 3 QB
“I don’t know exactly when it happened. He feels like it was the third down on the zone read that he pulled it, kind of got twisted awkwardly,” Monken said. “I think he’s going to be fine, just a little uncomfortable throwing now.”
Monken declined to answer if the plan was to keep four quarterbacks before Gabriel went to IR.
“I won’t get into that. We obviously liked all of our quarterbacks and we certainly didn’t want to lose any of them,” he said.
Green won’t get many practice reps with the focus on preparing starter Deshaun Watson for the season — No. 2 QB Shedeur Sanders and Green will split the scout-team reps — but the next month is a chance for him to prove he’s worthy of the No. 3 spot despite being new to the NFL. He’s concentrating on the mental reps and the post-practice period in which he gets to throw.
“Every single day is an opportunity,” he said. “Yeah, he’s on the IR, but he’s pushing me too, and I’m pushing him. So, yeah, it’s an opportunity to show what I can do, but at the same time, I just can continue to control what I can control and just take it day by day and just continue to prepare like I’m starting.”
Carson Schwesinger back practicing after watching, learning while he waited for weeks
Green (6-foot-6, 230 pounds) was a sixth-round pick out of Arkansas. He’s an elite athlete, having run a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine with a 43 1/2-inch vertical jump and 11-2 broad jump.
He’s not a finished product on the field, throwing 20 interceptions and fumbling 17 times in his last two years of college while completing 61.2 percent for 5,868 yards. He rushed for 777 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior.
He made a quick impression on Monken.
“He’s very diligent,” Monken said. “He stands back there even in the walks, and I can see him mentally going through the reps. Maybe not be getting the physical reps, but he gets the mental part of it, and then some of his athleticism that ends up taking over.”
Green has seen his biggest growth since the draft come in the finer points of the position.
“I would really say just the amount of detail and the amount of preparation that you have to put into it,” he said. “Not just getting ready for a game, but every single day and every single practice, you got to prepare and you got to act like you’re the starter and you’re going to get some reps, because you just never know when your number’s going to get called.”
After not getting any team reps for two weeks, Green threw and ran for touchdowns in the joint practice against the Bills. Then after going another week without a team rep, he saw his first preseason action Thursday and led a touchdown drive. He rushed six times for 66 yards and went 5-for-7 passing for 27 yards.
“Clean up a little bit of footwork like I knew,” he said of what he learned from watching the film. “Speeding up just my read a little bit, just eliminating some routes. If they’re in a certain coverage, I don’t got to go one, two, three. I know my first read’s not going to be there. So just talking through those things. And really ball security too, I kind of swing it. So I would say those three things.”
Monken liked what he saw.
“There’s still a small sample size to go by, but what you look at is what he did with the limited amount of reps he got,” he said. “We certainly want to see more.
“We were impressed with his ability to handle information, operate on the field and make the plays that he made.”
