Quarterback Cody Kessler was the only Browns rookie who wouldn’t play to the crowd following wide receiver Rashard Higgins on social media.
He had more important things to do.
When the rookie class took a field trip to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on June 23, Higgins decided to broadcast the visit live on Periscope. He approached several of his teammates, asking them to look into the video camera on his phone and speak to the viewers.
The players gladly obliged until Higgins reached Kessler.
“Why do you guys keep doing Periscope?” Kessler said. “What’s up? I’m trying to learn.”
Then Kessler walked away. His rejection wasn’t mean-spirited, though. He had a smile the whole time. Still, the message was clear: He was all business.
“It just kind of hit me how hard those guys worked to get in [the hall of fame], and I’ve worked as hard as I possibly could to get where I’m at,” Kessler said last week, reflecting on the moment. “So it was just a motivation thing. Guys were having fun. I mean obviously everyone took it seriously, but it just kind of hits everyone a little differently.
“Everyone who plays this game has a chance to make it there. It just meant a lot to me. It was something that I cared deeply about and respect. I just love the game and respect the game. Obviously, the dream would be to be in there one day, but I know how hard those guys worked to get there.”
Higgins came away impressed with Kessler’s leadership.
“Cody’s always learning,” Higgins said. “Cody’s a great guy. He’s the guy for the quarterback position. He’s the man for the job.”
What happened at the hall of fame in Canton was hardly an aberration.
Kessler, 23, has taken a similar approach while preparing for his NFL regular-season debut. Injuries to quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown in the first two games will force the Browns (0-2) to throw Kessler into the fire against the Miami Dolphins (0-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
“He has put a lot of work in — a lot of work,” wide receiver Andrew Hawkins said. “He is taking the practice reps as if they are game reps. He is just taking it seriously and doing what he has to do to get himself prepared.”
Kessler said he enjoyed touring the hall of fame so much that he asked the Browns if he could stay longer than the allotted time and use Uber to catch a ride back to team headquarters in Berea. He was denied.
So it’s not shocking that he overstayed his welcome while studying game film at the training facility as he geared up for the Dolphins. The coaches had to cut him off about 10 p.m.
“He is in this building from morning to night. We have to kick him out. That is just the way he is,” coach Hue Jackson said. “He sees this as a tremendous opportunity for himself, and I think he wants to go represent himself and the organization and his teammates well.”
Tight end Randall Telfer said Kessler had the same habits when he was a freshman at the University of Southern California. They spent four years together as college teammates.
“He prepares for every game like it’s his last,” Telfer said.
His leadership, maturity and character contributed to the Browns selecting him in the third round, even though most draft analysts projected him as a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent. Bombarded by skepticism about the pick during draft weekend, Jackson touted Kessler’s accuracy as a passer and famously declared the world should “trust me” about the decision.
“You want a guy that is unflappable a little bit, a guy that does not get too high, does not get too low, just stays very consistent, a guy that can demonstrate poise and toughness and resiliency because that is what this game demands,” Jackson said. “He had a lot of characteristics that we liked, and he needs to display those this weekend. I think he will.”
But no one doubted Kessler’s intangibles. It’s his lack of prototypical size — he’s listed at 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds — and arm strength that fuels naysayers. A rough preseason in which he took seven sacks and two safeties, including when he inadvertently ran out of the back of the end zone at Lambeau Field, made it easy for critics to pile on.
“It’s funny because [size and arm strength] are the same exact things they were telling him [would be problems] when he was coming into USC because he was the smallest one out of all the guys,” Telfer said. “... But he’s always proved people wrong. That’s the kind of mentality that he takes into everything. He always makes sure that nobody counts him out because he’s more than ready to play this game at this level.”
The Dolphins will test the theory. Their defense has injured the first two quarterbacks it has faced — Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks and Jimmy Garappolo of the New England Patriots. Their defensive line is headlined by three four-time Pro Bowlers — Ndamukong Suh, Mario Williams and Cameron Wake.
“You don’t want to hold onto the football, especially with how physical their front seven is,” Kessler said. “They create havoc in the backfield, and they get after the quarterback.”
Plus, the Browns are the first NFL team since 2008 to start three quarterbacks in the first three games. Griffin suffered a fractured coracoid bone in his left shoulder in Week 1. Then McCown suffered a fractured collarbone in Week 2.
The Browns didn’t want Kessler to play this early in his career, but they have no other choice.
“I’ve taken it very seriously and have spent countless hours already these past few days in the building,” Kessler said. “I just want to feel comfortable in myself going into the game and making sure I have no questions and nothing that might catch me off guard. I want to be able to expect everything.”
Kessler is aided by his experience operating a pro-style offense at USC, though Jackson said there have still been many adjustments the native of Bakersfield, Calif., has had to make while transitioning to the Browns’ system. Kessler said Jackson has been hard on him throughout the process because of his high expectations.
“He kind of operates not like a rookie,” said veteran backup quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, who signed with the Browns on Monday. “He really takes charge out there and seems like he has a really good grasp of the offense. He has had a heck of a week of practice. I think he’ll be fine in the game.”
The Browns are praying Whitehurst, otherwise known as “Clipboard Jesus,” will prove to be a visionary.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.