BEREA ― No one called Taylen Green on roster cutdown day. At least, no one from the Browns called the rookie quarterback.
So, that's clearly good news, right?
"It's my first time," Green said Aug. 31, "so I don't know. I hope that's good news."
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The fact Green was talking a day after the league's deadline to get to the initial 53-man limit should answer that question. However, as the day was going on, it wasn't as certain to the sixth-round draft pick as is it ultimately ended up being.
Green finally did receive a phone call or two congratulating him on the good news. Not necessarily from the team, but at that point, it's didn't really matter to him who it came from.
"It was definitely a blessing," Green said. "It's a dream come true, again. I mean, just woke up, went to church, then was just enjoying my day off. I didn't get a call or a text to come in So I was just excited and saw the post and had a lot of family and friends text me and stuff. It was exciting for me."
Green's spot on the 53-man roster wasn't something that was in any way guaranteed, especially after a training camp where he spent a large part of it only getting individual reps and next-to-no team reps. The No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart throughout training camp, it seemed like it would come down to either he or second-year pro Dillon Gabriel for that No. 3 quarterback spot.
There were scenarios where both Gabriel and Green could've ended up on the initial 53. However, there always seemed to be a more likely scenario that one or the other was going to end up either cut or traded.
That is, until Gabriel developed a back injury during the preseason finale against the New England Patriots, the same game Green got his first preseason snaps by playing the entire second half. The Browns placed him on injured reserve to open the season, allowing them to then keep Green on the roster as QB3 behind Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders.
"I don't know exactly when it happened," coach Todd Monken said of Gabriel's injury. "He feels like it was the third down in the zone read that he pulled it, kind of got twisted awkwardly. I think he's going to be fine and just a little uncomfortable throwing now."
Gabriel's required to miss at least four games by league rules while on injured reserve. That means at least four weeks, not counting the two remaining days of practice this week, of work for Green as the No. 3.
The challenge for a quarterback who's still a bit raw in his abilities is finding the necessary work when there's not much work to be found. That's the life during the regular season for any quarterback who isn't the starter, but especially the No. 3 quarterback.
"Just continuing to do what I'm doing," Green said. "Didn't get a lot in training camp, but still have some mental reps and just be behind Deshaun or Shedeur, whoever's going. And I'm taking the snap, just continue to ask questions and I'm in a great quarterback room and have a lot of knowledge, so continue to ask questions there and continue to ask my coaches questions. And I know they have a, they call it Hungry Dawgs period to get extra reps in those periods."
Neither Green nor Monken had much to say about potentially utilizing the 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback in certain packages, be it red-zone or short-yardage situations. As Geeen said. "It's first day out of the 53, so we're just still trying to take it day by day."
Monken said both Sanders and Green would serve as the scout-team quarterback once the Browns fully transition into preparations for the Sept. 13 opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars. That started in a very limited fashion on Monday, but will gradually increase the next couple of days before fully taking over starting next week.
That's still opportunities for Green to find ways to improve himself. Gabriel's injured reserve stint only postpones an ultimate decision by the Browns regarding the two quarterbacks until mid-October.
That decision may have been kicked down the road, but the competition between the two hasn't. Green said the two have continued to do what they can to both help each other while also trying to make themselves better as well.
"I mean, every single day is an opportunity," Green said. "Yeah, he's on the IR, but he's pushing me too, and I'm pushing him. So yeah, it's an opportunity to show what I can do, but at the same time, I just can continue to control what I can control and just take it day by day and just continue to prepare like I'm starting."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Taylen Green calls making Browns' roster as QB3 'a dream come true'
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