Included below are select quotes from interviews with the following Browns players during today's media availability:
- QB Robert Griffin III (full transcript)
- WR Terrelle Pryor (full transcript)
QB Robert Griffin III:
On what it was like for a Baylor player to play in Ohio Stadium:
"It's cool. College football was a very fun time for everybody that is in the pros now so you get to come back to a stadium like this in a place that is as historic as Ohio State, it's pretty cool. I know (WR) Terrelle (Pryor) was excited to come back. You see he finished it off the right way, and he played really well today."
On where he thinks he stands in the QB competition and if he thinks he is leading it:
"It's just about coming out every day and proving it. We want to make sure that everybody earns their spot, earns their keep, and that's everybody's goal. Every time they step out on the field, they want to put their best foot forward and show (Head) Coach (Hue Jackson) what they can do. He believes in all of us so it's a lot of fun to go out every day and just prove it."
On the impressive TD drives during the live scrimmage last night, as well as today during the Orange and Brown Scrimmage:
"It's never easy to score touchdowns in the NFL, whether it's in practice or a game. It's never easy to come into a new situation and learn a new offense and play confidently within that. Just over the course of the offseason, working with the people that I did, getting better with teammates, all those things helped to build that confidence about what we're doing. It's just great play calling from (associate head coach – offense) Pep (Hamilton) and Hue and the way they put the offense together. It lets you know what's coming and you can kind of know what to expect. That's the level you want to get to. We just have to keep coming out, keep getting better because we're not where we want to be yet."
On not recently being the No. 1 QB for a couple of seasons and performing well:
"I'm excited to be here in Cleveland with the Dawg Pound and with my teammates. Everyone is hungry to turn this thing around. It starts with the quarterback, and you have to make sure that you're on point every single day so that guys can follow their leader."
On if his play this week has gone about as well as he could have expected:
"It's no different. You just come out every day and try to put your best foot forward. You should get better every day. You get a little bit better every single day, then you're going to be a pretty dang good football player. We have a lot of dang good football players on this team."
On how excited or anxious he is to play on Friday in a live format with 'live bullets':
"I just think it's football. You've played this game since you were a kid. You have fun with it. We play a kid's game for a king's ransom. You have to look at it that way. You come out, trust your keys and trust your technique, and the work has been put in. When the lights come on and it's live bullets, it's just football."
On WR Terrelle Pryor and his performance in training camp:
"He's a big guy, physical. He's got an elite trait that you can't coach, and that's size. He's been able to utilize that while he's been in camp and in the spring. We love the progress that he's made. If you want more in depth, you have to ask Coach."
On his relationship with WR Corey Coleman and Coleman's performance in training camp:
"Corey is doing great. He's got dynamic ability. His speed and the way he tracks the ball is incredible. He's a strong kid, a confident kid. You just have to keep working with him. He is a rookie, but he's not playing like one. We want that to continue when the lights come on and the live bullets start to fly. We'll stay on Corey, and Corey is going to stay on himself. He'll be a pro about it."
On improving his mindset and confidence as he has performed well within the offense in training camp:
"Yeah, I don't think it's really about my mindset or mentality. It's really about just what our offense is running. It's to give everyone confidence. When you know what you're doing, you can play confidently. When you know what to expect and you know where to go with the ball and what Coach and how he wants to play the game, how we want to play the game, it's easy to go out and execute. That's just getting a better understanding of what Coach is expecting, what he wants and why is he calling that play, why is he calling that play and then you can master the system. You can go out and lead drives. It's been really fun to just work with everybody through this whole process."
On if he's trying to lead now or if is he learning and waiting to take on that leadership role:
"You don't try to lead. Those words don't go together. You just lead. It's something that comes natural. Guys are going to look to you. At the quarterback position, you have to have those qualities. It's not about trying to lead. It's about just going and doing it."
On if he's noticed a difference in his mechanics since working with quarterbacks coach Tom House this offseason:
"Yes I have. It was an honor to work with a legend like Tom and be around some of the QBs that he works with. You learn a lot. You learn a lot through what they put you through and watching and listening. It was a pleasure, and I do feel more efficient. It's all about consistency and keeping everything on time, taking the same drops. Coach has said, 'You never get broke taking a profit, whether it's check downs or whatever,' but as long as your process is all ironed out, everything will have the same result."
On the key to his success throwing the deep ball yesterday and if he has advice for Pryor after his deep-pass attempt:
"Sometimes you just have to throw it up there when you're a receiver and give your receiver a chance. With (WR) Marlon (Moore), he (Pryor) gave your receiver a chance. I think the success comes from those guys. Everybody has to be on the same pace. They have to run their route the right way, and it's my job to deliver them the ball. I can't give you the precise breakdown because then we wouldn't throw as many. We just want to keep working that and make sure that's part of our arsenal."
WR Terrelle Pryor:
On if making plays at Ohio Stadium brought back memories:
"It definitely plays from a different perspective, from a different angle. It's great to be in this [stadium]. It's funny because a lot of guys on my team go in the locker room and they expect it to be nicer. I said, 'Man, this is tradition. Your schools have all the Nike on the walls probably. We don't have to recruit like that.' I stick up for my school. It's great to be back. It's a beautiful stadium."
On finishing the Orange and Brown Scrimmage with a long TD reception, along with his other big plays:
"It's special. We have special group – our offensive line, running backs. (WR) Corey Coleman had a great day yesterday. Somedays, other guys have great days. It's just how we operate. For myself, just to make plays is (Head) Coach (Hue Jackson) calling the right calls and the QBs putting the ball where it's supposed to be. That's it. I'm just doing my job. That's my one-11th is to make a play when the ball is in the air, and that's it."
On Jackson mentioning Craig Austin about his transition from QB to WR and whose idea it was to make the change:
"I knew Hue pretty well. We had talks, me Hue and Craig Austin. That's one of his best friends. He was like a surrogate father/mentor. We all had a decision and talked and came to a conclusion. That type of deal."
On if he was no longer with the Bengals when deciding to change positions:
"Yeah, it was a couple weeks after that."
On summarizing his current relationship with OSU, given the NCAA ban was recently lifted:
"I don't really… All I've heard is positive vibes. It was great to see (Ohio State defensive coordinator/linebackers) Coach Luke Fickell. He came into the locker room, gave me a little dap and it was great to see him. I talked to him for a while. I saw (former Ohio State director, high school relations) Coach Greg Gillum. He used to work here, as well. I talk to (former Ohio State Head Coach and Youngstown State President) Coach (Jim) Tressel an awful lot and stuff like that. It's great being able to communicate now, coaches not being blocked off and them welcoming me and coming to work out and be around those guys. Guys make mistakes or whatever – I could get on that blah, blah story – but it's life. Let's go to the next chapter."
On if he's counting on making the Browns roster:
"I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about being the best player and best teammate I can be. I'm not worried about making a team or any of that. I'm just here to do my job and whatever the coaches decides, that's what happens."
On how QB Robert Griffin III has progressed:
"Robert has been awesome. These past three or four days, he has been on. (QB) Josh McCown has been on. Guys are playing well, and also, the skill guys are helping. The running backs are getting through the holes and making plays, the offensive linemen. It's really when you ask about one guy, I have to talk about everybody because everybody, it's just a collaboration. If one person doesn't do their job, it's not going to work. To answer your question, RG is doing a phenomenal job."
On if he liked throwing a pass today:
"Yeah, it was cool."
On the dynamic he can provide the Browns as a WR who could also throw passes:
"It is different. It is a little different. You have to work on throwing deep down the field with a glove on. It's a little different because if you take have your glove off and the defense sees that, guys are pretty sharp out there. It is something that I have got to continue to work on and try to master. We have a couple weeks now. I'll just keep on working and grinding at that."
On his improvement at the WR position since last year:
"It's just putting my head down and grinding and watching other people do great things, watching the greats do it, watching film on greats, watching film on (WR) Josh Gordon and how he handles his business on the field. I like watching great talent. Guys like that, like Josh, like (former NFL WR) Randy Moss. Guys like that, I like to put a little stuff in my basket, take it and use it to do what I can do and try to counter it someway. Me and Josh are the same size, like Randy, so it's a little different than watching AB (Steelers WR Antonio Brown) and stuff, but there is stuff you can use off of him. I'm just trying to put a little different stuff in the bag and try whatever works for me, just try to be the best I can be."
On how fans at Ohio Stadium responded and cheered when the ball went his way:
"Playing in here was electric. I'm sure there are a lot of Buckeye fans here, Browns fans. Hopefully, it's the upcoming of what's possibly to be, just making big plays, breaking tackles, making long runs and stuff like that. I work hard for that, and I'm comfortable with urging and talking about us, making big plays because you have to see it to achieve it."
On how eager he is to show his skills during the preseason:
"I'm not going to force anything. I've been doing it in practice versus very good talent. I'm not going to force it to prove to anybody. I'm going to do what I do every single day."
On if he's relieved to be healthy this training camp after sustaining a hamstring injury last year:
"Well, let's knock on wood since you brought that back up (laughter). I'm just playing. Like we talked about in Berea, I wasn't ready to run like that. I just came over from being a quarterback my whole life pretty much. Now that I'm back, I'm running a lot. I had an offseason to run. I went through the whole system through the offseason, OTAs and stuff like that. I was able to really catch on with how we (WRs) run and how much we run. Before I was like a bear, but now, it's a gazelle."
On if he felt anything emotionally being back on Ohio State's field:
"Football is football, no matter where it's at. It all feels the same. I know there is the most amazing crowd here with the Buckeyes and Browns fans are pretty awesome, as well, but football is football. When you're between the lines, I don't hear anything. I'm focused on the guy that's trying to stop me and I'm coming for him. That's it."
