Jacoby Brissett: 'I knew I was the right person' for Browns in Deshaun Watson's absence

BEREA − Jacoby Brissett may start again at some point over the Browns' final six games. If that does happen, it means something has happened to keep Deshaun Watson off the field.

As of now, though, the last time Brissett is expected to start for the Browns will come on Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The veteran, though, wasn't ready to hear that talk.

“You guys gotta stop saying that 'last start' stuff,” Brissett responded Wednesday to one questioner.

Brissett may not want to hear it out loud, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what Sunday is for all intents and purposes. He signed with the Browns on March 19, one day after they acquired Watson from the Houston Texans.

So Brissett has known literally from the day he signed with the Browns the countdown was on to the day the offense was handed off to the quarterback the team gave up three first-round picks and $230 million guaranteed. It was always just a matter of when that transfer was going to happen.

That doesn't make it any easier on Brissett, especially since he's played arguably as well as he ever has in his seven-year NFL career. For a player who's spent most of that career as a backup just looking to a chance to prove himself, what he's done over the first 10 games with the Browns could open the door for teams to view him not just as a solid backup, but an actual starting quarterback.

"I signed up for this, I knew what I was getting myself into," Brissett said. "I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task. I didn’t sign up for easy, I wasn’t brought here for easy. And I knew I was the right person for it, and I still believe that I am. I think I’ve shown that. So, yeah, excited for this one."

Brissett, who's on a one-year contract, declined to answer if he would be interested in re-signing with the Browns after this season. However, his performance has certainly been that of a legitimate starting quarterback.

Brissett's 90.7 quarterback rating is the first time in his career he's been over 90 in that stat. He's had four games this season − Week 3 vs. Pittsburgh (109.6), Week 7 at Baltimore (106.5), Week 8 vs. Cincinnati (133.7) and last Sunday against Buffalo (116.3) − in which his rating has topped 100.

It's not just quarterback rating where Brissett has exceeded past career highs. His current completion percentage of 64.4% is the best of his career by almost two percentage points.

Brissett's 213 completions are the fifth-highest for any Browns quarterback through 11 weeks. He's turned those into a 239.8 yards-per-game average, which would be a career best by 43.7 yards per game.

"Jacoby’s been amazing for us," running back Nick Chubb said. "He’s a great person overall and a very good player. He’s done a lot of great things here. I love him. I love playing beside him. It’s been great playing beside him. I know this last game he’s going to give his all for us.”

About the only area where Brissett may have an issue with his performance is the one stat that gets pinned to a quarterback even though it's not always a direct reflection on the quarterback's play. The Browns head into Sunday's game with a 3-7 record, including losses in six of their last seven games.

Still, Brissett's play put the Browns in position to win several of those games. Now, he'll get one more chance on Sunday to try and make another statement that, if nothing else, helps him down the road, not that he's looking that far.

"Like I remember saying this in the beginning of the year, this has been a journey that I’ve had to take week by week and just be present in this moment because I don’t know what’s ahead," Brissett said. "I’ve been fortunate enough to be around this league for a long time to know that a lot of crazy things happen. So I haven’t really thought about the future yet and I honestly don’t want to right now, because of how much this week means to me. And I’m just looking forward to this week."

It's not the on-the-field part of the game where Brissett has shined the brightest. It's been the way he's carried himself in the locker room and around his teammates.

It wasn't until the middle of August that Brissett truly took over the first-team offensive reps in training camp. It was long before that that he took over the mantle of unquestioned leader on the team.

"He’s been solid with his leadership and the way he communicates with the team," said linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, whose locker is directly next to Brissett's. "He’s able to get them together and to not only talk about football, but talk about the bigger picture of this team and this program and he’s able to convey his messages in a great way as you all can see, with his media, so he’s able to do that well, which is what you look for in any leader. A leader leads not only when you’re winning but also when you’re having some down moments, and he’s able to do that."

Which may have come as a surprise to many outside of the Browns facility who didn't know Brissett prior to his arrival in Cleveland. It may have even come as a surprise to some inside of the facilty.

Brissett, though, is surprised by the number of people who are surprised by how he's carried himself through everything since he joined the Browns.

"That’s so funny, because people ask you that, and it’s like, ‘am I not supposed to do that?,’" Brissett said. "That’s what I signed up for. I don’t think I should be commended on doing my job and doing what I’m supposed to do and what I told myself and everybody else that I was going to do. So I guess I wouldn’t say I’m … I’m doing my job. But I just obviously wish we won more games, but we’ve got an opportunity to do that this week and I’m looking forward to that."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jacoby Brissett proud of performance with Deshaun Watson suspended