Osweiler likely start shows Browns sense of urgency to win in the preseason

In all likelihood, Brock Osweiler will be the Browns starter in the preseason Thursday night, which speaks to the team’s sense of urgency to win.

Brock Osweiler is expected to be named the starter for the Cleveland Browns preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints Thursday night.

Ostweiler’s emergence comes as a surprise after all of the hype surrounding rookie DeShone Kizer in recent days, in addition to Osweiler never taking a snap with the first team in the days leading up to the team’s Orange and Brown scrimmage Aug. 4.

Osweiler’s place on the preseason depth chart is probably a good thing for Kizer. The Notre Dame product will get to see more snaps as a backup and there should be less pressure playing against second-string competition.

Back to Brock.

Friday night’s scrimmage obviously did a lot damage to Cody Kessler‘s staring hopes. The 2016 third-round pick just can’t stretch the field, he’s holding onto the ball to long, he tipped a pick-6 to Jamie Collins and his balls are getting batted down at the line.

Osweiler may not be wowing everyone at camp, but at least he can go vertical, evidenced by his 40-yard throw to Ranell Hall during the scrimmage.

For those who are following the quarterback hubaballoo, you probably expected to see some names shifting around.

But the reason as to why should have every card carrying member of the Dawg Pound intrigued.

Jackson, who’s already been placed on a hot seat by some, feels a sense or urgency to win right now. Not right now as in this season, but right now as in the preseason. You know, the four games every year everyone can’t wait to get through, and that season ticket holders dread paying for.

Going 0-4 during the 2016 regular season  set the tone for the year. The Browns didn’t taste victory until Christmas Eve. The losses mounted up and took a toll on the fan base, and one would assume, the players too.

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So Jackson, who is in his second year on the job, is stressing the importance of winning preseason games, via Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland.com.

"“Jackson conceded that he has a different urgency about this preseason than last year, when the Browns went 0-4 in practice games and proceeded to lose 14 in a row in the real season en route to a 1-15 debacle. ‘I do not want to go 0-4 again,’ Jackson said. ‘I don’t want to feel like that. I don’t think this team deserves that. We need to go out and play good in front of our fans and go win. I don’t care what we are playing. I just think that has got to be our mindset. I think the mindset is different than what it is. If we are going to play, we need to go win. Everybody … says that, but I mean it. We need to go win.'”"

For months, Browns fans have debated Osweiler’s place on the team.

Some believe the Texans’ castoff should, at the least, be given the opportunity to start because he’s actually won games in the NFL, which is something nobody on the Browns roster can currently claim.

Now, if Osweiler gets the nod on Thursday night, that line of thinking will have permeated to the very top levels of the Browns think tank.

As for the Browns sense of urgency to win preseason games, Jackson should be applauded. Cleveland is still a very young team and a lot of the players on the roster do not know what it takes to win any kind of game.

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The culture change has got to start somewhere, why not in the preseason?