On if there is a legitimate chance he could be ready to play at Tennessee:
"That is the plan. I'm going to work through the week and practice and see how it goes. I'm looking forward to practicing, though, and taking the next step."
On if he has thrown to make sure everything is fine:
"Yeah, obviously, you don't just walk out to practice and not have done something. We are working toward that and so I look forward to being out there this week and getting to practice. It will be good."
On if it is a quick return after a broken collarbone:
"I guess. I don't have the list of broken collarbone history in front of me. It is credit to the trainers to be able to move it along. We work tirelessly to try to get ourselves healthy, not just myself but everybody is dealing with something. I'm just glad to be able to take the next step and go out and practice. It is going to be good."
On if wanted to accelerate his healing process due to how much he wants to help the Browns:
"Absolutely. Anytime you find yourself in a situation like our team is where it is going this way and you are 0-5, it is all hands on deck. You have to want to help, and you turn our tape on, you watch the tape from yesterday and you watch the effort that guys put forth and the way they are battling, and you want to be a part of it. You want to do what you can to help that, and obviously, this situation watching (QB) Cody (Kessler) go out and fight the way he did and then (QB) Charlie (Whitehurst) come in, you just want to be able to help as much as you can. These guys did a great job."
On if his timetable to return was accelerated since it was to his non-throwing collarbone:
"It obviously helps because it is not on the throwing side, but anytime you are dealing with sprains and bones and things like that, it just takes time. I do think it helps that it is not on the throwing side for sure."
On if there are hurdles to clear during the week to play Sunday:
"It is more up to the team docs and stuff like that. Like I said, we are taking the next step and practicing. I think that is what we are most excited about, and then we will see as the week goes how it leads us."
On attributes Browns injuries the past two years to bad luck:
"Yeah, it is unfortunate. For us in the first year obviously of (Head) Coach (Hue) Jackson's time here and when you are starting something up in order to have the early success, you have to have a lot of breaks go your way. Certainly, you have to stay healthy. That is part of it in this league. As you build a team and as you grow as a team, you hope that as you mature as a team that you can weather those. That being said, we all walk around in this locker room and look at the plays that we should have, could have made that would have made a difference, and it would certainly make a difference in our record. That is the standard that Coach Jackson is holding us to and that is the standard that we hold ourselves to and demanding more out of ourselves. There have been some things that were unfortunate, but that happens around the league. You have to find a way to pull yourself out of it. That is the message that Coach Jackson has sent to us, and we are following that lead. He has done an outstanding job of leading us through that, but it is never been and it is not something that we talk about or dwell on. The next man gets up and we go on and play, and that is how it should be."
On if veteran QBs look for TEs in the passing game more than a rookie QB:
"I don't think that is necessarily the case, but I do think experience allows you to appreciate what a tight end can bring you and just maybe the space and ability to put the ball in different spots with the tight end. As you grow as a player and as a young player as you grow and you watch those guys make those plays over and over again in tight spots, you realize the value of their size. I do think for Charlie and myself it does help just because we have been around and we have seen other guys, whether it is Charlie's time in San Diego with (Chargers QB) Philip (Rivers), watching (Chargers TE) Antonio (Gates). You watch other guys do it, how they throw to the tight end and it gives you value as a player and confidence to do the same thing."
On Patriots QB Tom Brady flourishing with TEs:
"Obviously, Tom has shown his ability to flourish with a number of guys."
On what was said between him and Brady after the game:
"Just wish each other the best and all that."
On if Brady said 'you have three more years at least in you':
"No, but obviously, from my end, there is a huge respect for what he has been able to do. All of us respect the success he has had, but just at his age, I guess there is not very many guys kind of left for me to look up to so to speak because you are older but guys that are ahead of me and are older. To have him still doing it and still playing at a high level is certainly encouraging to say the least. You can gain a lot just by watching that guy, watching how he works and how he plays the game."
On Kessler's development over the past three weeks:
"I'm just really proud of him. Just his process, the way he has developed his process, we talk about it all the time and that is so key for these young guys. What is your Monday through Friday going to look like? What is your Saturday routine look like? He is constantly honing that process and perfecting it. When you do that, on Sunday you have a chance to play good sound football. Cody has done that. Obviously, he has tons of room to improve because he is such a young player. Early on, I'm just impressed with what he has done and his poise and the way he is working. I'm just proud of him being thrust into a tough situation where two guys go down the first two weeks. He has handled himself really well. Just look forward to watching him grow and compete. He is fun to have around. It is fun to come into the locker room and the quarterback room and get to work with a kid like that because he wants to learn so much. He is always asking the right questions."
On if Kessler has the potential to be a long-term QB solution and franchise QB:
"That is not my decision to make so I leave that up to the decision makers. I think everybody that sits in a chair in this locker room, you want the potential to be able to do for that franchise what everybody hopes they can do. He just has to keep his process, keep doing what he has been doing. That is going to give him the best chance for that to happen moving forward. If you have a guy that is in a room, especially in that position, that doesn't have that mindset, that doesn't want to be that type of player, then you probably have the wrong guy. I know from Cody and just the way he is wired, he is fighting for that. I can see that in his work ethic and the way he goes about it."
On if it's realistic that he could play at Tennessee:
"Yeah, I'm going to practice Wednesday. That is the next step to this thing. We will see how it plays out. I'm looking forward to that part of it. Like I said, again, we are kind of going through what we are going through just to be out there on the practice field and get back moving around like that is going to be exciting for me. We will see where it goes. I'm looking forward to helping anyway I can and getting back out there with the guys."
On if he expects to start when he returns to play:
"I expect to go back and play wherever they want me to play and when they want me to play. That is my expectation. The bigger focus for me right now is just getting to a point and a place where I'm healthy and can go back and do the things they need me to do and ask me to do. Like I said, we will find that out Wednesday."
On if he believed had a chance to play the week after he was hurt against Baltimore:
"I don't know. I want to play anytime they give us an opportunity to, but there are obviously things that happen. You are kind of optimistic, and then reality of what is taking place sets in. We obviously have team doctors and trainers that have their positions for a reason. They help us to be able to make the best decisions for ourselves and for the team. That is what it is all about. Every guy in here, they get hurt and they still want to play. That is why we are in this business and certainly want to be out there. Obviously, you sometimes go through things where your body says otherwise."
On if he's assured there is no risk of higher injury:
"We will go through practice this week and assess those things. I trust what the team docs and trainers and the information that they are going to provide me as far as making the best decision for us as possible moving forward. Obviously, injuries are part of this game. Just finding that balance of what is the right way to approach it. Once I go back out there Wednesday and once I get back out there, that won't be on my mind. It is about playing and doing what we can to get our first win."
On if he received a heads up about his daughter celebrating his career on jersey day:
"I kind of had a heads up. My daughter just shot me a text and she said, 'Hey, it is jersey day and my friends were going to wear some of these jerseys that I have of you.' I said, 'Absolutely.' I kind of thought, 'I hope you have enough friends (laughter).' They went ahead and did it and went to class. Then, we were sitting at dinner. They flew up here Friday night or Friday afternoon. We were sitting at dinner Friday night at Burntwood (Tavern) in Crocker Park and we were talking. We were talking about tweeting it. Some people in the room suggested I should tweet it maybe. I was talking to them about it. I'm not a huge presence on Twitter by any stretch, but my daughter was like, 'Yeah, it would be cool.' We kind of talked about it. She kind of formulated what we should say, and we sent it out. That is kind of how it happened."
