QB DeShone Kizer:
On if it is tough evaluate his improvement given the team's challenges on offense and in-game situations:
"Yeah and no. Obviously, you want to see a team have more success on the field, which equals more points and which equals more wins, but when you set individual goals for each week, you can definitely evaluate those – small situations for myself like protecting the ball more and keeping the ball out of harm's way. Those are small things that you can take a peek at in losses and see development in. As a team, the offensive line after the first drive we protected better than we have protected all year so you see the small things that you can build on. Now it is about identifying the things that are allowing us to continue to go out and not have sustainably good offensive drives and make sure that we can correct those."
On his development this season:
"Once again, it is all about doing whatever you can to eliminate turnovers. For me, the biggest part of that is making sure I understand the timing within the pocket and making sure that when it does start to collapse, you either find someone's feet to throw the ball to, take off and run or throw the ball away."
On if he is up for the challenge of putting a struggling team on his shoulders:
"Absolutely. That is my job. They brought me here to play quarterback here, and they deemed me the starting quarterback Week 1. It is on me to make sure that I am doing whatever I can to help my teammates around me develop, as well as developing myself."
On viewing yesterday's loss as part of developing as a rookie:
"You just have to flush it. You have to move on and you have to learn. Once again, it is all about trying to find the things that you want to work on each week and identifying those and making sure they don't come back again. Each week, we set a small set of goals, and you try to do whatever you can to accomplish those, obviously, with winning being the first one. After you do say no to the first one, you have to start evaluating the others to see if you can build on those or find whatever you can do within the next week to correct the ones that you haven't corrected."
On if accepts responsibility for turnovers that hit a receiver's hands:
"Completing the ball is all about doing whatever you can throughout the week to put the ball in the right spot at the right time and have a guy make a play. Completing passes in this league is difficult, and we see that each week. For us, it is about what can we do from Monday to Friday to Saturday to start completing more balls because quite frankly, it is unacceptable to be at the percentage that we are at right now."
On if he saw the field better and made better decisions yesterday:
"Absolutely. It is pretty easy when the defense goes out and plays majority Cover 1, whether or not the guy is open. If he is not open, then make sure the ball is not in harm's way."
On optimism for the Browns to improve:
"It is the fight that you see throughout the whole game, it is the youth on this team who is continually getting better and it is the comradery that we have in this locker room. We come back after 0-4, and yes, we are all disappointed because we are all competitive, we all want to win, but everyone is just as excited as the weeks prior to get back out there and to do whatever we can to get back out there and win. That was quarter one and we started off 0-4. It is what it is, but it is on us now to be pros and to flush it and do whatever we can to make sure that quarter two goes better than quarter one."
On any concerns the team might quit, given Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis' comments to Head Coach Hue Jackson postgame:
"No, no one is quitting around here. This organization has done a really good job of bringing in a lot of guys who truly love this game. You can see in this locker room how much people are about doing whatever they can to help this team. There are not too many egos around here. Everyone is all about winning and doing whatever they can to execute their job. If we can continue to do that and continue to put ourselves in an opportunity to win games on Sunday by a good week of preparation, then hopefully, we will start getting back to what we want to do."
On how young players stay focused on winning, given success in college but limited success this season:"Coach Jackson, he is the head of all of this. His mentality and his optimism that he gives to us each week in the team meetings are what drive us to get back out there. The leadership from there is one that talks to Coach Jackson a lot. As long as they are on the same page from our leadership with me being a part of that and we continue to push the same message, we will continue to come out and have the energy needed to come out and prepare the right way to win games."
On his current mindset after dedicating himself each week but still being 0-4:
"You learn that all of that work, all of that time and effort, all that does is give you an opportunity. All it does is put you in an opportunity to potentially win a game. Then all of that work needs to come out. Obviously, in the last four weeks, it hasn't come out the way we want it to. You can throw a ball 10 times out of 10 in the right spot at the right time in practice, but if you come out in a game and it doesn't happen exactly the way you did it those 10 times, then it absolutely means nothing. All it does is give you an opportunity. Now it is on us to make sure that the same effort that we are putting in on the week is portrayed out on the game field because that is at the end of the day what every wants to see – wins."
On if it helps knowing Head Coach Hue Jackson supports him fully as the QB of the team:
"I wasn't worried about it at all. Coach and I understand each other, and we knew that this was going to be a learning process and it was going to take a lot to get to the winning that we want to get to. It is on me to make sure that I stay on the path that I have been on and that I continue to develop each week."
On if it is more mentally or physically taxing following a game like Sunday:
"A little bit of both. It is definitely a mental challenge to continue to flush. We want to build. We want to start stacking wins on top of wins. In order to do so, you have to get your first one. I think that is all of our goal is to take that first quarter, put it behind us and do whatever we can to start experiencing that success and that feeling we had in the preseason so that we can start stacking that on top of each other and create the necessary confidence to be one of the better teams in this league."
On if he talks to anyone about the mental challenges of playing QB in the NFL:
"Coach Jackson. Coach Jackson has been the guy who I have accepted as my mentor to take me through this. It is on me to make sure that I don't have too many voices coming in. He has a vision. He has a message. He understands the ins and outs of this game, and I'm going to continue to look to him to lead me to where I need to be as a quarterback to get back to winning."
On if Browns players are taking responsibility and that it is not simply on the coaches to correct problems:
"Absolutely. We are the ones playing. These gameplans, we are very confident walking in. The play calls are exactly as is. When you go in and watch the film, as I always say, it takes 11 guys executing their job. You can see throughout play by play that there are some lapses and some guys who aren't necessarily doing their jobs in their best fashion. It is going to take for us always to continue to buy into those gameplans and to simply do our jobs."
On if he senses any doubt in the locker room:
"No, not at all. We are very optimistic. We are looking forward to getting back out there and flushing this behind us and doing whatever we can this week to be a better team because obviously, what we have done in these past couple of weeks out in the game field isn't enough to win in this league."
On if the Browns offense is working during the week to correct struggles early in games:
"Absolutely, you try to start every drill with more energy, you start every practice with a little more energy and you start every day with a little more energy, but energy only goes so far. You still have to execute your job. From the smallest of details to the fundamentals you have been doing since you first started this game, you have to always make sure that every time you step out there you are doing your job to the best of your ability. Unfortunately, in those first couple of drives in our first four games, we are not out there doing that."
On Bengals CB Adam Jones saying Head Coach Hue Jackson can't do with the talent on the team's roster:
"He is not in our locker room. He doesn't know what the talent looks like. He doesn't know the grind that we put in. He doesn't know the camaraderie that we have. I look forward to hearing his comments once we do figure this out."
