The notion of having a “COVID-19 quarantine” quarterback is a popular discussion point on sports talk radio and message boards. As often happens, the concept filtered up and made an appearance in Browns coach Kevin Stefanski’s Zoom press conference this week.
There are two separate branches to the discussion. One is to keep the current QBs, or at least one of them, completely isolated from the rest of the team and pretty much anyone who could possibly infect him with the coronavirus. The other is to identify a veteran free agent QB and stash them in a quarantine version of “break glass if needed” type of situation.
Stefanski answered the question based on the first scenario, the idea of isolating Baker Mayfield or Case Keenum away in practices and not risking any possible COVID-19 outbreak that would leave the Browns shorthanded at QB.
“We are going to put a plan in place that we feel really confident in keeping all of our players safe. Obviously, I understand the quarterback position and a lot of people are discussing that, but I feel very strongly that the protocols that they have given us, we have adhered them to a tee,” Stefanski said confidently.
He continued while also laying out the practice plan,
“The truth is we have gone past them. We are doing things in an abundance of caution that we do not even have to do. For example, we are going to split the squad next week, and we are going to go with calling it a ‘brown’ and ‘an orange’ team. We are going to have a workout in the morning and a workout in the afternoon. We are going to do that just to limit the people in the building. We are not going to have in-person meetings until, I think, August 9. We are going to just stay virtual.”
He did not broach the idea of having an emergency plan on the outside in case Mayfield and/or Keenum, or third-stringer Garrett Gilbert, tests positive for COVID and needs to sit for an extended period. Some fans have suggested that Drew Stanton could be a good option. The veteran was the team’s No. 2 entering 2019 before he went on injured reserve, and Stanton remains unsigned. However, his skills do not match well with Stefanski’s offensive scheme.
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