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‘It always helps’: Browns' Dorian Thompson-Robinson looks at positives amid concussion
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- ‘It always helps’: Browns' Dorian Thompson-Robinson looks at positives amid concussion
BEREA — Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a big believer in leaning on past experiences to help him through present situations.
Sure enough, Thompson-Robinson even has one to draw from now. It's not quite apples to apples, but it's close enough that the Browns rookie can relate being the starting quarterback, being knocked out of that role due to circumstances beyond his control and having to watch from the sideline as someone else does the job.
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"I kind of dealt with this a little bit when I was at UCLA and during COVID, getting to watch," Thompson-Robinson said Friday. "I was in protocol and having to watch the backup guy go in there and execute the offense really well like Joe (Flacco) did last Sunday.
"And I think it always helps. It gives you a different perspective getting to see somebody else in there with different skill sets and being able to go in there and manage the game, do what the coaches, they're asking them to do and execute at a really high level like Joe did last week."
The circumstances are obviously different here for the Browns fifth-round pick who started against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11 and at the Denver Broncos in Week 12 before being knocked out of that game with a concussion that cost him a start last Sunday in Los Angeles against the Rams. The biggest difference between UCLA and now is that, unlike then, there's no guarantee Thompson-Robinson will get his old job back.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski would not name a starting quarterback on Friday for Sunday's home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars . He wouldn't say if Thompson-Robinson was getting his old job back, or if Flacco — fresh off his Browns debut last week — was going to stay in the job.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (17) walks back to the locker room after a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 19 in Cleveland.
So Thompson-Robinson, at least according to his public comments, remains in the dark about if he'll start Sunday.
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"I'm ready to go if it's me and my name's called upon," Thompson-Robinson said. "Just more so excited just to, again, have football back. When you get stuff taken away from you, whether it's injuries or whatever it is, that's primarily the main focus, just getting back out on the field. So that's what I'm excited to do, excited for Sunday and hopefully it's going to be a good weather game."
Which, not surprising, he already has a comparable experience in his past. That came in Week 4 this season, as the Browns were preparing to play the Baltimore Ravens in Cleveland .
Thompson-Robinson received all of the passing snaps during the week's practice while Deshaun Watson rested a shoulder injury. Despite the injury and lack of practice reps, Watson assured everyone he would play against the Ravens.
But Watson didn't play, which wasn't announced to anyone until a couple of hours before kickoff. The rookie, thrown to the fire against one of the best defenses in the league, had a miserable 121-yard, three-interception, 25.3-rating day in a 28-3 loss.
Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson eludes Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, in Cleveland.
"I mean, like I said, after the Ravens game, I think that game is the biggest blessing of my NFL career so far," Thompson-Robinson said. "Just nothing could really get worse than that week in my perspective. So I base everything off that and just, I've gone in there now in an NFL game and started with no reps with being told last-second, so I have to do it again I can do it again. I have those reps now. I've been trained for that scenario or anything that's going to be thrown at me."
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That includes losing the starting job because he suffered an ill-timed concussion, which is very much what could be in the cards if Flacco is the Browns quarterback going forward.
Thompson-Robinson was solid through nearly three quarters of the Browns' loss in Denver. Until, that is, the next-to-last play of the third quarter, when Denver's Baron Browning delivered a high hit on him a split-second after he threw a pass away.
"I tried to get up," Thompson-Robinson said. "I tried to get up and I'm like, I don't do well with blood. So I'm, like, I felt it and I'm, like, let me just lie down real quick."
"Real quick" turned into nearly two weeks in the concussion protocol for Thompson-Robinson. It meant basically missing out on what was a homecoming of sorts as the Browns practiced at UCLA during the week between the Broncos and Rams games.
Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is injured against the Broncos Nov. 26 in Denver.
Thompson-Robinson did make an appearance Wednesday of that week at his college alma mater, exchanging pleasantries with several former coaches, led by Bruins head coach Chip Kelly. However, that's when he really noticed the concussion symptoms.
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"No, it was the worst," Thompson-Robinson said. "I mean, I couldn't do meetings. After that first time I went out there on the practice field when you guys seen me, it was like head start rushing, hurting, so it was just all bad. I really wanted to be out there the whole week, especially at the game, being on the sideline and stuff like that. So it was a bummer for all."
The bummer may extend to Sunday. While in Los Angeles, Flacco — signed to the practice squad on Nov. 20 — took all of the first-team reps, then went out and put together an effective 254-yard, two-touchdown, one-pick performance in the loss to the Rams.
What's existed since for Thompson-Robinson is an internal conundrum. The competitor in the rookie wants his old starting job back, while the appreciative rookie is trying to absorb everything he can from the 16-year pro and former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player.
"I've learned a bunch from Joe since he's been here," Thompson-Robinson said. "It's hard not to with the type of guy he is. He's always helping the quarterback room, especially now that he's in that starting role, he's taken a full head of steam, showing the leadership and all those things that it takes to be a starting-level quarterback.
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"So I'm feeding all into it and I'm taking as many notes as I can from him. I mean, he's treating me like his little brother, so I love it."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Dorian Thompson-Robinson excited to be back, eyes Browns' starting job
