CLEVELAND: Browns rookie quarterback Cody Kessler has started just eight NFL games, and he has already suffered two concussions.
“You just never want that for anybody and especially a guy in his first year,” veteran quarterback Josh McCown said after Sunday’s 24-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium.
It’s a sobering fact about Kessler, and it’s why the Browns (0-11) are expected to change starting quarterbacks for the fifth time this season when they host the New York Giants (7-3) on Sunday. McCown will probably start because coach Hue Jackson spoke as if quarterback Robert Griffin III wouldn’t be ready in time as he attempts to return from injury.
Nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said the play that sidelined Kessler shouldn’t be permitted in the NFL.
The Browns faced first-and-10 at their 25 with three seconds left in the third quarter when Kessler took a snap and was yanked down by inside linebacker Ryan Shazier a split-second after he threw a pass. As Shazier pulled Kessler, inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons launched and appeared to strike Kessler in the helmet with his right shoulder pad.
“I just kind of caught the end of the play when I was looking up on the replay and to me when you have a quarterback scrambling, running out of the pocket and they get targeted with a shoulder or a forearm to the head, I know in college football they throw you out for something like that,” Thomas said. “Hopefully the legislation in the NFL is trying to eliminate that type of play ’cause quarterbacks get hurt when they’re getting hit like that, and that’s something that you don’t want to see in the game.”
Kessler immediately left the game and was diagnosed with a concussion while McCown filled in. He suffered his first concussion of the season Oct. 23 against the Cincinnati Bengals and missed one game.
Timmons insisted he whiffed instead of drilling Kessler in the helmet. If true, Kessler could have suffered the concussion when his head hit the ground.
“I did miss him,’’ Timmons told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He saw me coming as [Shazier] was pulling him down. I went right over top of him.”
Thomas didn’t see it that way, though he stopped short of calling the play dirty.
“Certainly hitting a quarterback late after he’s thrown the ball when he’s going down with a shoulder or a forearm to the head is not something that you want to see in the game ’cause if we did that to Big Ben [Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger], they’d be pretty upset,” Thomas said.
Jackson said Kessler might be shut down for an extended period because he’s had two concussions in 29 days.
“It is a possibility,” Jackson conceded. “We will see. I am definitely going to talk to our medical staff because this is about a young man’s career and future, so we have to do the right thing.”
Griffin worked out on the field prior to Sunday’s game just like he did Nov. 10 before the Browns faced the Baltimore Ravens. He ran several sprints and threw passes. On Friday, Jackson said Griffin would return to practice this week after missing 10 games with a fractured coracoid bone in his left shoulder. Jackson also said Griffin needs to pass one more medical test to be cleared for contact.
But on Sunday, Jackson sounded as if he’ll turn to McCown against the Giants because he doesn’t expect Griffin to be ready.
“I don’t know much about Robert right now. We will just see where that is,” Jackson said. “But we will see where Cody is, and if not, obviously Josh is going to have to go out there and play, and he will go out there and I will expect Josh to play well and he will.”
The Steelers (5-5) had eight sacks and 14 quarterback hits, with Kessler and McCown taking four sacks apiece. McCown was fortunate to walk away from the game healthy after absorbing several shots. As he scrambled late in the fourth quarter, defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who had a team-high 2.5 sacks, decleated him with a blindside hit. McCown’s chinstrap unbuckled and left a small cut on his face.
The carnage made wide receiver Terrelle Pryor furious.
“[Our quarterbacks] can’t keep getting hit like that, and if I want to voice my opinion, I’m going to voice my opinion now because it’s going on too much,” Pryor said. “I don’t care if you’ve got to hold these dudes. Hold them and take the damn penalty and stop getting our quarterbacks hit. I hate that.
“I don’t think somebody would take $10 million to sit back there and take those hits. Come on. Some of those hits Josh took? After one of those, I came over, and his chinstrap was like this over his neck. He has a cut [on his face]. It’s bullcrap. We can’t keep doing this, and we can’t keep getting our guys hit. It’s as simple as that.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.