Brock Osweiler credits coaches’ advice with positioning him for Browns start

Brock Osweiler could have easily allowed his emotions to get the better of him.

His NFL quarterbacking career has been filled with so many ups and downs, twists and turns — enough to create the sort of distraction that could derail an entire career.

‘It’s been a roller coaster’

But Osweiler didn’t allow that to happen, and now he finds himself starting the opening preseason game for his third team, the Cleveland Browns, Thursday night against the New Orleans Saints.

“It’s been a roller coaster, but I was very fortunate my sophomore year in college (Arizona State) to get some great advice from my college offensive coordinator, Noel Mazzone,” Osweiler told Solomon Wilcots and Phil Savage during the SiriusXM NFL Radio training camp tour stop at Berea, Ohio. “To make a very long story short, I lost the quarterback battle, I was upset and at that point in time, he told me probably the best advice I ever heard and that was: ‘Only worry about the things you can control. Your energy, your effort, your attitude.’ And that’s something that’s stuck very close to me throughout my entire career, whether it be football or life.”

‘It was just time to learn another new playbook’

After the trade that sent Osweiler from the Houston Texans to the Browns, he focused on the “things that I could control.” The next day, he went into the Phoenix gym at which he trains and did his normal routine.

“When I came here in the spring, I didn’t prepare any different,” Osweiler said. “It was just time to learn another new playbook and I just dove into it and started making all the flash cards that you do, and just started working hard and getting to know my new teammates and try to have a great attitude every day. Coach (John) Fox, when I was in Denver, used to tell our team, ‘You’re either getting better or you’re getting replaced.’ And so that’s something that’s also stayed with me throughout my career.

‘Fortunately, it’s brought us to this point today’

“So when I came here to Cleveland, and we were in OTAs, I was working very long days just trying to better myself as a player, a person and a quarterback in this league and, fortunately, it’s brought us to this point today.”

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