Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson got a rather unpleasant surprise in his postgame news conference after a local news station got video of quarterback DeShone Kizer out drinking until 1 a.m. early Saturday.
Jackson was only made aware of video of Kizer at a bar in the early hours of Saturday morning from a question in the press conference — and he did not seem happy to learn about it.
Hue was just made aware by media about Kizer video at bar til late Fri, early Sat. Didn’t sound pleased “thank you for sharing that with me”
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) October 22, 2017
#Browns Jackson said he wouldn't want Kizer out until 1 in morning at a bar on Friday. Channel 19 has video of it
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) October 22, 2017
Kizer tried to defend himself when asked about the video after the game.
#Browns Kizer on being out Friday night late: "I was out. I was at the facility the next day. I'm not here to talk about my personal life"
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) October 22, 2017
Perception means a lot for quarterbacks, who are viewed as team leaders expected to set an example. Kizer being out late at a bar a 36 hours before his winless team plays a game is a pretty bad look, even if he wasn’t actually doing anything wrong. It doesn’t appear to have factored into his benching — Jackson didn’t even seem aware of it until after the game was over — but it certainly may have some negative implications for him going forward.
