Browns coach Hue Jackson said he left last weekend's meeting with Robert Griffin III impressed but stressed Cleveland isn't rushing to sign a quarterback just to do it.
"There's always so much more information to gather. You want to know as much about the player and the person as you can and we'll do our due diligence — not just on Robert, but every player, every draft-able player that we'll have a chance to get our hands on because we need to know as much as we can," Jackson on Tuesday told reporters at the NFL's annual owners' meeting in Boca Raton, Florida.
"And believe me — that's about helping the player — if a player does come on our team to be the best that he can be, that's one of my jobs as the head coach … we need to know as much about him as we can, as we can find out."
Jackson, who fielded a flurry of questions regarding Griffin and the team's future plans at quarterback, added the Browns will take their time in evaluating all potential options when it comes to the position.
"We're about crossing the T's and dotting the I's and making sure that things are right," he said. "I think sometimes in the past, I think people would think we would have jumped in the frying pan really fast and I just don't think that's who we're trying to be."
Indeed, the Browns are still diligently gathering information as to whom might be best fit to be what Jackson likes to call the "face of the organization."
Griffin, a free agent who has battled with injuries over the last few years, burst onto the scene as a rookie with the Redskins in 2012.
"I think we all know he's a talented player, he's a good person, a good young man. The guy can throw a football, he can run a football. And this past year he didn't play," Jackson said.
"I think he learned a lot, I think he humbled himself a little bit, he knows he's got a lot of work to do ahead of him to get himself back to where he was, but I think he's willing to do the work. He's trying to find a football team that will best fit him and we'll see how all that unfolds."
Jackson said Griffin, who was cut by Washington earlier this month following a season in which the former Heisman Trophy winner sat behind Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins last year, answered a series of difficult questions.
"Our visit was very informative, a lot of dialogue back and forth. A lot of tough questions asked, a lot of tough questions answered. I don't baby people, I'm sorry, it's just who I am. I ask the tough questions and I expect to get the tough answers," he said.
"And he handled all that extremely well. And, again, at the same time, nothing's decided or anything but I felt better about him because he answered some questions that I had and I think he represented himself the right way."
Jackson, who has expressed a "leave no stone unturned" approach to finding a quarterback, echoed a similar sentiment Tuesday.
"We have to do everything we can to put the best players on our team. And again, when you talk about Robert, you're talking about a young man who was the MVP of the league at one time … in my opinion, we would be remiss if we said we're not gonna look at everybody and see how he fits for us," he said.
The Browns — who hold the second and 32nd overall picks in April's NFL Draft — are also gathering information about incoming quarterbacks.
"We know that there's some young talented passers that are coming up and we've all seen young guys start playing in this league at a very early age like Joe Flacco and there's been some others, and they can play," he said.
"But your team has to be able to receive them and handle them and so I think there's a lot of factors that go into the things we're trying to do. At the same time there's not a decision that has to be made today."
