For every high, there have been two lows for DeShone Kizer. That's the way it's been this season for the Browns rookie quarterback, who said as much Wednesday as winless Cleveland hopes to fend off being on the wrong side of history.
Kizer, whose rollercoaster year has played a role in the team's 0-14 start, lamented his performance in Sunday's loss to the Ravens and nagging inconsistencies that were on full display this past weekend.
"I'm not intentionally going out there expecting to have a bad day or expecting to have an amazing day. I'm just going out and attempting to do my job," Kizer said. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do it to the level that I would like to have consistently. I think that consistency is something that I'm going to have to continue to work on throughout my whole career and is something that every quarterback's going to have to continue to work on."
For Kizer, it's been a point of emphasis as he tries to help lift the Browns to their first win amid a shrinking window to do so. While the youngster and second-round pick from Notre Dame has showed promise — especially in the second half of this season — he hasn't been able to always demonstrate that improvement. In 13 starts, Kizer has thrown 19 interceptions against nine touchdown passes. He tossed two of those picks against the Ravens on Sunday and was strip-sacked in the end zone for a touchdown.
After the game, Browns coach Hue Jackson said he would consider sitting Kizer before ultimately deciding to let the rookie finish the season. "I think he's up to the challenge," Jackson said Monday. "He has some improving to do … I wanted to take a peek at the tape to determine where he is and make sure I had a chance to see him and talk to him to see where his head was and make sure he's ready to go. If he wasn't up to the challenge, then if I needed to make a change, then I would."
While Kizer admitted the losing — including several close games where he and the Browns stumbled down the stretch — has taken a toll, he maintained his confidence hasn't been shaken. And with two games left to salvage a disappointing season, Kizer hopes to showcase the best version of himself.
It starts in Chicago.
"This has been a long Year 1, obviously, a very interesting Year 1 with a lot of ups and downs. I think it would be awesome and a cool opportunity for me to go out and close it out with some positive notes," he said.
"There have been more downs than ups and let's try to finish this off with the right taste in my teammates' mouths and in the front office's mouth so that next year when we come back, I can be right back in the position that I am and grow from what I have been able to go through this year."
