Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Taylen Green is a hard man to miss on the practice field.
That is what happens when you are 6-foot-6 and anywhere from three to seven inches taller than the other quarterbacks standing next to you.
But Green also stands out as arguably the most athletic of Cleveland’s four quarterbacks, a skill he flashed in last week’s preseason game against the New England Patriots when he turned a busted play in his own end zone into a 30-yard run.
His ability to turn disaster
into something positive certainly helped when head coach Todd Monken and general manager Andrew Berry selected the initial 53-man roster on Sunday.
There was fear that Green already had a one-way ticket to the practice squad, since no team would ever consider carrying four quarterbacks on its roster. (Just don’t look at the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, or Atlanta Falcons, because that ruins the narrative.)
But Dillon Gabriel came down with an opportune back injury that landed him on injured reserve and opened up a roster spot for Green, a sixth-round draft pick who called making the squad “a dream come true.”
Much of the attention placed on Green throughout the summer has focused on his athletic ability and whether or not the Browns will create “a package of plays” featuring Green to stun opposing defenses this fall.
How realistic that is, or how much practice time Monken can devote to such a thing, is debatable and remains to be seen. It also, at least on a smaller level, boxes in Green as nothing more than someone who can just use his size to get a yard or two, as opposed to a quarterback who might bring more to the field as he develops.
Green and Monken both had media time before practice today, and there were two things that stood out from their comments, both relating to the work Green has been putting in this summer.
With practice reps limited, and about to get even more scarce with the regular season on the horizon, Green shared how he works on his game away from the practice facility:
“Normally after we get out of practice, I normally take like 30 minutes to 45 minutes to myself. No football or nothing, watch some TV, eat something. Then after that, I normally go to my whiteboard; we have our script up and go through every single play and write it until I can’t get it wrong. After that, I do a mini walkthrough in my room. Just doing that, and then I got to call wifey. She helps me prepare for the next day. I continue to do that day in and day out, and in the morning, we have a walkthrough period as well, so just continue to do that.”
That extra work has not gone unnoticed by Monken, who continues to make it clear that he likes a quarterback who thinks and studies the game:
“(Taylen’s) very diligent. He’s a diligent note taker; you look at his notes, and so is Dillon. But Taylen, he stands back there even in the walks, and I can see him mentally going through the reps. So, I think that’s the biggest thing, looking at film, mentally going through the reps. Maybe not getting the physical reps, but he gets the mental part of it, and then some of his athleticism that ends up taking over.”
Is that enough to get Green on the field this season? Probably not, as he is still pretty raw as a passer and was selected in the sixth round for a reason.
But this is still the Browns, a team that has made a habit of playing numerous quarterbacks during a season, so ready or not, Green may find himself in the huddle one Sunday afternoon this fall.
And if he does, no one can accuse him of not putting in the work, even if he has to go a long time without getting any first-team reps.
