Rookie quarterback Taylen Green prepares for his first preseason action as the Cleveland Browns host the New England Patriots on Thursday with a roster spot on the line
The Cleveland Browns starting quarterback competition may be over. But down the depth chart, rookie Taylen Green is still fighting for a spot on the team's 53-man roster come Sunday.
He'll have an opportunity to make his case on Thursday night, when the Browns battle the New England Patriots. Green is expected to play at some point in the second half. It's an opportunity he's been waiting anxiously for.
"Oh, I’m excited," he said. "I’ve got family coming to town. It’s a night game, lights out. It’s going to be a dream come true. Just being out there and being a Cleveland Brown, who wouldn’t want that?"
When Green takes the field, it will be his first action of the preseason. Unfortunately, his reps took a backseat to the competition between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders for the starting job throughout camp. Even though his work at practice has been limited, he's found ways to make the most of them.
"Just taking mental reps," said Green of maximizing his time. "When I get the call from my helmet, I’m saying it. We have the wristbands, staying after practice, throwing, going through the script, asking questions in the quarterback room, or just listening and being a sponge and continuing to learn."
Green has also leaned on the other quarterbacks in the room.
"I’m in a unique position," he explained. "Yeah, I’m not getting a lot of reps, but at the same time I have a great quarterback room that has a lot of wisdom and has a lot of experience. So, I’m just learning. It feels like I’m in the classroom."
Some of the most valuable work of camp for Green came during the Browns joint practcie with the Buffalo Bills. the team's joint practice with the Buffalo Bills last week. Green saw work in three different sessions of team drills and flashed a few moments. The highlight, though, was a beautiful red zone fade ball to Tylan Wallace for a touchdown.
Thursday will serve as his biggest test yet, though. It's an opportunity for the Arkansas product to show just how much he's learned since joining the Browns as a 6th-round pick in this year's draft.
"I would just say the huddling and calling the play in the huddle and just having the confidence and the energy that each play we’re going to score, even if it’s a run play," he said of where he's improved the most. "And I’d say my attention to detail."
On the other side of Cleveland's preseason finale, the NFL's roster cutdown day looms large. Sunday at 6 p.m. is the official deadline for teams to reduce their 90-man rosters to just 53 ahead of the regular season.
As things stand right now, Green is one of four quarterbacks on the Browns' depth chart along with Watson, Sanders and Gabriel. History shows Andrew Berry has a tendency to find a trade partner for one of his quarterbacks around this time of year.
Given that Green is a rookie, it's unlikely they'd try to trade him so soon. They could attempt to sneak him on to the practice squad, however, that would expose him to waivers first.
Something will have to give come Sunday. Whatever happens, Green isn't sweating it right now.
“I mean, of course it crosses your mind, but at the same time you can’t control that," he said. "You’ve got to just be where your feet are and control what you can control and put your best foot forward each and every day."
