Q. Do you have an update on your quarterback situation whether Davis is going to start and if you're going to call up somebody?
DAVID CULLEY: Davis will start the game. Tyrod will not play.
Q. The backup quarterback situation?
DAVID CULLEY: We're maybe going to bring up Jeff Driskel.
Q. (Question about quarterback.)
DAVID CULLEY: Basically just do what we ask him to do. We'll actually have the same playbook, obviously there's some things that he is a little different than Tyrod, but we actually have the same kind of plays, but we'll use the things that fit him more so than what we did with Tyrod. Some of the things we did with Tyrod we may not do with him in the run game but as far as the pass game it will basically be the same thing.
Q. It seems like some of the defenses are ready for some of the ways you run the ball because of him not being a runner. How do you adapt to that with Mills in?
DAVID CULLEY: No, I mean, I don't think there was anything that we did when we tried to run with him, because I don't think there was any runs that we had that we tried to run with him.
Q. Running the ball.
DAVID CULLEY: Oh, running the ball? No, we're going to run the ball the way we run the ball, we're not going to change anything what we did. Basically, when we have not been successful running the ball, it's basically been because of things that we haven't done that we should have done correctly.
Q. Do you sense that the Browns were kind of gearing up against the run more in the second half, kind of challenging him to throw?
DAVID CULLEY: I didn't feel that way because front-wise and coverage-wise, they didn't really change and we really didn't really change. What happened is I just know the first two drives that we had in the second half we had mistakes in those two drives and it wasn't so much of what they were doing defensively it was what we were doing offensively. We weren't doing it very well.
Q. Do you have more information on Tyrod's injury and how long he'll be out?
DAVID CULLEY: Not sure what the timetable is right now.
Q. You have a little bit of an older team, are you going to be relying on those veterans to help Davis get prepared for this start?
DAVID CULLEY: Well I think basically they're just going to play the game just like he's been that quarterback. That's how they played it whenever we were in pre-season with him. I don't think anything will be any different with the way they approach it.
Q. Deshaun, with only two quarterbacks will he participate in any form of practice to help you guys prepare?
DAVID CULLEY: No.
Q. How much will it help Davis that he's already got a couple of quarters under his belt going into this game?
DAVID CULLEY: Tremendously. As a matter of fact, after the game I think during the interview process he mentioned how comfortable he was, he didn't really feel like there was anything happening to him that he wasn't prepared for. And after going back and watching the video there really wasn't anything that they did that would confuse him or did anything any differently. He handled himself well and I expect him to do the same thing this week.
Q. Do you alter much of what you do because it's a different guy back there? You said already it's still the same play schedule, that kind of thing?
DAVID CULLEY: It's still the same play schedule. It's just some of the things in the run game that you do with Tyrod because of his legs that you wouldn't do with Davis, but then there's some other things in the passing game that we'll do with him that we hadn't done.
Q. Is there an update on Anthony and Danny?
DAVID CULLEY: Anthony will be up this week, Danny will probably not be up this week, we'll still know more about that this afternoon.
Q. Nico Collins, who would be available for him?
DAVID CULLEY: Basically we just, again, there's a possibility that we could bring up a guy from the practice squad.
Q. Sometimes when a quarterback comes off the bench in a situation like Sunday it's different mentally than when he has all week to prepare knowing he's going to start. Can you talk about the two differences in that situation?
DAVID CULLEY: Well in his case he's had all the reps this week, he's getting every rep, where previously he only gets a select few reps and I think getting those reps there's a comfort level that goes in getting those reps. From a mental standpoint he's always been good with knowing that his time could come up and not getting those reps, he's been ready.
Now that's gotten those reps I think there will be a more comfort level in him starting the game and I think that's a good point because I think in the second half when he had to go out to play, I think not having had those reps in practice and all of a sudden now I'm up, probably had a, made a difference. I think this week, going into the game, when we start the game and he's out there, I think he'll be, there will be a much better comfort level with him.
Q. What have you seen in the run blocking and what do you think about the issues with the run blocking?
DAVID CULLEY: Well, I don't think there's been some issue, when there's been issues it's been because we have had a missed assignment here or there. We have had some guys that basically haven't been working together and sometimes the team you're playing has something to do with that.
Q. Do you feel like the run game, I know you guys have emphasized the run since y'all got here, but do you think it will be even more important in trying to help an inexperienced quarterback get comfortable?
DAVID CULLEY: Last week, even with Tyrod, I didn't feel like we ran the ball like we needed to run the ball. And we're going to do the same thing this week as he we will do every week in trying to establish that and hopefully we'll be a little bit more consistent than what we have been and we're playing a defensive football team that's been playing very well for the first two ball games, that not very many -- the two teams that they played haven't done a very good job of running the football on them, but we're going to try to do that.
Q. Do you have any updates on Dustin and Charles?
DAVID CULLEY: They will be available. They're okay. They just got a little banged up, but as I said before, that's football. They will be ready to play.
Q. Are you guys going to explore the market to bring in an additional quarterback?
DAVID CULLEY: We'll just have to wait and see. I think Nick is always looking for those kind of things and I guess after this game we'll kind of see where it's at and go from there.
Q. How much will it help Davis, even though it's a short week, he knows he's starting and he has several days to prepare?
DAVID CULLEY: I mean, he's ready. He is ready. He's been exactly what you want your backup quarterback to be and when he went in the game this past week it had nothing to do with -- other than the one time that they got him on a blitz, he executed very well, he was sharp, he did exactly what we needed to do, even in the run game and I just think he'll be a lot more comfortable now, simply because he has been out there and against a very good defensive football team.
Q. What makes that team difficult to block?
DAVID CULLEY: They fly around the ball. They remind me a lot of how our defense plays. Their up front guys really get after it. They play a scheme, not similar to what we do, but they change it up a little bit and they do a good job of what we like to say playing 11 on 11 defense. Those guys all fly to the ball, they have done a good job of doing that and we have just got to be on our P's and Q's and make sure we take care of that.
Q. In the first couple of weeks how have you seen Tim Kelly, his play calling, what have you seen from him in the first few games?
DAVID CULLEY: He's done exactly what we wanted to try to do going into each ball game. We haven't always been successful doing it, but we're playing the way we have to play to be successful on offense, we just got to execute better. But I'm happy with exactly where we are right now.
Q. You took a big chance with the backup. What did you see in Mills that made you comfortable in doing that instead of bringing a veteran in?
DAVID CULLEY: Pre-season. Just the way he handled himself during pre-season. I really felt like he had some tough moments during the pre-season where he came back and showed that he had some maturity about him, a lot more maturity than you would probably see in a rookie. He's never ever gotten flustered, I've gotten more flustered than he has during the ball game and I just really like his maturity and I feel comfortable going in the game and we'll help him out in the game. We know he's a rookie quarterback, but we'll help him out and we'll do things to make sure that all other 10 guys around him are doing their job to be able to keep him upright and keep him comfortable.
Q. (Question about Nico Collins and bringing up players from practice squad.)
DAVID CULLEY: There's a possibility we could bring up a guy on the practice squad. Not sure who it is right now. But there's a possibility. We'll know more about that this afternoon.
Q. You couldn't expect this many injuries at once, when you're making decisions about how to carry teams on the roster, how difficult is that to make things whenever you're trying to figure things out in such a short amount of time?
DAVID CULLEY: Well, I mean, it goes back to the next man up mentality. We got guys in backup positions that they know that when these kind of things happen and it's going to happen in football and I don't think it's any more now than would normally happen. We played two what we would consider two physical ball games and when you play those type ball games, these things happen. Some of the injuries that have happened that has nothing to do with the fact that guys got hurt it was just some injuries that happened. But there are guys that get hurt in the game, they come back in -- we had four, five guys that got hurt in that game, came back in and played. They're a little banged up right now, but they will be ready to go Thursday night.
Q. What sort of challenge of challenge is it to manage these kind of injuries?
DAVID CULLEY: We're good with our situation there. We're very comfortable with the situation we have there.
Q. Joe Brady, what he did with his offense without Christian McCaffrey for so much of it last year, what are the major differences in the ways you see the way he runs his offense with Christian now?
DAVID CULLEY: It's obvious that they're going to find ways to get him the football. If you just look at the two ball games he's played, when he's in there, there's a pretty good chance that during the series he's going to end up touching that ball, whether it's running the ball and them throwing the ball to him, simply because he's a tremendous player, he's one of the best players in this league at being multi-purpose at what he does and they do an excellent job of putting him in situations to be successful and they do a good job of doing that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports