Robert Griffin III carried a business-as-usual mentality into his first official press conference as the Browns starting quarterback.

There was no elaborate story about how he discovered the news. Coach Hue Jackson simply informed Griffin in a meeting Monday morning, and Griffin went about his business. That's the kind of mentality that's gotten the former Redskins quarterback to this checkpoint and it's what he and Jackson hope guides him to the next goal: Leading the Browns to victories on Sundays.

"There's no sense of relief," Griffin said before Monday's practice. "You come out every day for an opportunity. I'm thankful that the coaches believe in me. I'm thankful my teammates believe in me. I'm just going to get ready for today's practice, go out and get ready for Green Bay."

When Griffin signed with the Browns in March, he wasn't promised anything. At the time, he was one of five in a quarterback competition organized and coordinated by a brand new coaching staff.

Jackson had plenty of intrigue in Griffin, who won the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year during a breakout season with the Redskins, but he wanted the team's only free-agent signing at the position to win the job by showing what he could do now, not what he'd done in the past. The competition went beyond OTAs and mini-camp and into the summer, as Jackson hadn't yet seen enough to name a starter before training camp. In eight training camp practices, Griffin displayed a better handle of the offense, which was fully installed over the first week of training camp, and looked comfortable operating it in game-like settings Friday and Saturday.

"He's been doing everything the right way," rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman said. "He's stepped up as a leader. As a quarterback, he's making sure that everything's going smooth, making sure everybody knows their assignments."

On top of his improved performance on the field, Griffin was lauded by Jackson for the respect he's garnered from his teammates, coaches and other members of the organization. Veteran Josh McCown, whom Griffin beat out for the starting job, said Griffin has earned that respect simply by showing up to practice prepared and ready to improve the offense from the previous day.

Griffin called that kind of praise "what you always want" as a starting quarterback.

"You want to come out and show your teammates that they can trust you, that you're going to get the job done," Griffin said. "You're going to put them in the right positions to be successful and get them the ball. It's just been really enjoyable to come to a new city with a new coach on a new team and have an opportunity to just go out and play the game of football the way you love and do it with great people."

One key part of Jackson's statement, when the coach said it was now "on Robert to show the organization and our fans that this is the right decision," wasn't lost on Griffin. He called the title of starter an "honor" he would respect.

"Coach, he gave me an opportunity to come to Cleveland to help do what he plans to do here and that's turn this thing around and make it a consistent winner," Griffin said. "I think all the guys that he kept on the roster, all 90 guys that he kept are excited about that opportunity because there's a lot of guys that aren't playing football right now. The guys that are here, we're focused on what Coach has in mind and it's what we all want.

"We all want to be winners and that's what we're working for. "