BEREA, Ohio _ One of Robert Griffin III's favorite slogans is "no pressure, no diamonds."
The Browns quarterback became fond of the phrase when his college team at Baylor University would chant it after workouts, and he frequently wears a green hoodie with those words printed on the front in yellow letters.
If it's pressure Griffin wants, it's pressure he'll get.
Coach Hue Jackson will have Griffin on a short leash Saturday when the Browns (0-14) face the San Diego Chargers (5-9) in the home finale at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Griffin will start the third consecutive game since his return from the fractured left shoulder he suffered Sept. 11 in the regular-season opener, but Jackson has made it clear he won't hesitate to replace Griffin with rookie Cody Kessler if he deems a change necessary.
"Nothing I can do about that," Griffin said. "Just get the guys ready to play, make sure we start fast and let the rest take care of itself. Coach is going to get what he wants. He is the head coach. We all trust and believe in him. We know he believes in us as players, so just go out and play ball and look to make plays happen."
When it comes to starting fast, the Chargers (5-9) are the best in the business with eight touchdowns on opening possessions this season.
Jackson gives Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers all of the credit. Rivers has a perfect passer rating (158.3) on opening possessions this season.
"Quarterback. Quarterback. Quarterback makes plays, knows how to get them into the right situations and puts the ball in the right place and make plays," Jackson said. "They just have been methodical on how they go about it. He is really good."
In their two games since Griffin's return, the Browns (0-14) have gone three-and-out during both opening possessions.
"Everybody has openers around the league," Griffin said. "We just have to be more efficient and executing those plays. That is my job. My job is to get everybody ready to roll, and I will make sure I do that."
Jackson said "it is not fun" to falter out of the gate.
"I am used to doing what (the Chargers) do, going down and scoring," Jackson said. "That is how you put pressure on the other team. That is the goal when you start your openers. You want to go finish with points. They have done a good job with that, and that is something we have been working our tails off to do."
Griffin has taken the majority of the practice snaps this week, but Kessler has received some first-team reps as well. Griffin is 0-3 as a starter this season. Kessler is 0-8.
"Anytime obviously you don't start a game and come in off the bench it's different," Kessler said. "At the same time, there's no excuse for not being ready. You've got to stay prepared and you've got to be ready to go whatever time it might be."
Griffin knows he must improve to hold off Kessler, who hasn't played since he suffered his second concussion in a span of 29 days on Nov. 20.
"I can play a lot better than I did (in Sunday's 33-13 loss to the Buffalo Bills), even though going back and watching it, I felt like I played better than the week before," Griffin said. "It was not good enough to win, and that is what it comes down to. We have to win games."
Griffin completed 17-of-28 passes for 196 yards without a touchdown or interception for a rating of 81.8, ran eight times for 48 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown, and took five sacks against the Bills. He had one throwaway and four of his passes were dropped by receivers, according to ProFootballFocus.com. His completion percentage would have been even better had he not missed some short throws.
Jackson said some misses stem from communication problems between Griffin and his targets.
"He needs to make sure he has pinpoint accuracy," Jackson said. "He gets that. That is something he has worked on. There was an uptick in performance last week, and I expect we will keep growing that way because he needs to."
Even if Griffin plays better, the Browns won't end this season with a concrete answer about who'll be their quarterback long term.
"I feel very comfortable about the future," Jackson said. "Now at that position, we have to get it right. Do not get me wrong about that. I am not saying that we have it right. I am not saying that the person that will lead our team as we move forward is on our team.
"We are going to find that out. We have two more games to determine that, but I do know that eventually we will have a quarterback here that we all feel good about, that can win for us and that can do the things that we want to do."
