Kevin Hogan won’t play Sunday. He won’t even suit up. Badly bruised ribs have relegated the quarterback to third string this week.
“My thinking with Cody was because obviously, Kevin has some ribs,’' Browns coach Hue Jackson said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “They’re pretty bruised in my opinion. It’s not because of performance. I’ll be the first to tell you that. I’m not going to put a guy out there or let him go through the week.”
Hogan made his first career start against Houston. It did not go well.
He threw one touchdown and three interceptions and took four sacks and six total hits.
But Jackson indicated that Hogan would have backed up DeShone Kizer this week, rather than Cody Kessler, if not for his sore ribs.
“It was tough,’' Jackson said. “He was running a ball today, if you guys saw him, and I knew what was going to happen. Sure enough, he was trying to be tough and prove that he’s ready to play. He gets hit right on the spot and drops the ball and everything. That tells me that coach is right. I’m sure (now) he’s saying, ‘Coach is right; player is wrong’ because you have to be protecting of these guys in that situation.
“They want to be out there. I think I have a pretty good idea of what a guy can do and what a guy can’t do, and I don’t think he is ready to be out there right now.”
