Following up on this week's Team Notes. ... DeShone Kizer could only watch as the Browns were overpowered by the Texans in Houston last weekend. It was the rookie quarterback’s first game observing from the sidelines, replaced with backup Kevin Hogan earlier in the week to give the youngster a breather following five starts filled with highs and lows.

“It definitely sparked my competitive juices. It definitely motivated me throughout the week to make sure that I’m doing extra,” said Kizer, whom the Browns re-named their starter Wednesday.

The rookie spoke of being recharged, re-energized and refocused amid a winless start in which Cleveland has struggled with turnovers, inconsistent play and other self-inflicted wounds.

Head coach Hue Jackson thinks the week off will make Kizer a better quarterback.

“I think sometimes that is what it takes,” Jackson told reporters on Wednesday. “Sometimes people think it takes three weeks, four weeks. I am not in that school of thought. I think if a guy can learn the lessons and if he can regurgitate it back to me in conversation and in work and me seeing those things change, then hopefully the lesson is learned. Everybody is different. Some people it takes longer, and some people it doesn’t. DeShone, as I have said to you guys before, I didn’t know how long it was going to take. I just know he was going to play again. I told all of you that. He is playing this week, and I am looking forward to watching him play. Hopefully, the lessons are learned and we will grow from there.”

Now that Kizer is back, Jackson didn’t commit to him being the starter for the rest of the year.

“I am not going to say the rest of the season, but I know he is the guy right now,” Jackson said. “I hope he is. I hope there are no more times that we have to take him out and let him reset himself. I am going to say it again, we are talking about a young quarterback who is 21 years old, who is in the National Football League and he is wearing a lot of different hats. I thought it was the right thing to do. As a matter of fact, I know it was the right thing to do a week ago. I think we will be better for it. I think he will be better for it. Hopefully, we will see the growth from him taking a week off last week.”

During the Texans game, Jackson said he had conversations with Kizer in between each series.

“He was just making sure that I was locked in on learning something. Every time in the second half when we came together, he was like ‘What did you see? What did you see? What did you see?’” Kizer said. “That allowed for me to stay engaged and made sure that he understood that I was out there and getting something from sitting out that game. From there, those conversations are what are going to lead us in practice and make sure that we can continue to head in the right direction.”

Kizer, whom Jackson expressed confidence in when it comes to the team’s long-term plans at quarterback, said he’s taken that challenge to heart.

“I think it’s understood now that if you’re not performing there’s definitely going to be a guy who can perform,” he said, “but it’s on me to make sure that that question never comes back up, go out there, do my job to the best of my ability and make sure that No. 7 is out there leading this team for years to come.”

The good news?

Tennessee's pass defense isn't among the league's stingiest.

Meanwhile, Kevin Hogan won’t play Sunday. He won’t even suit up. Badly bruised ribs have relegated the quarterback to third string this week. Cody Kessler will back up Kizer.

“My thinking with Cody was because obviously, Kevin has some ribs,” Jackson told Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “They’re pretty bruised in my opinion. It’s not because of performance. I’ll be the first to tell you that. I’m not going to put a guy out there or let him go through the week.”

But Jackson indicated that Hogan would have backed up Kizer this week, rather than Kessler, if not for his sore ribs.

“It was tough,” Jackson said. “He was running a ball today, if you guys saw him, and I knew what was going to happen. Sure enough, he was trying to be tough and prove that he’s ready to play. He gets hit right on the spot and drops the ball and everything. That tells me that coach is right. I’m sure (now) he’s saying, ‘Coach is right; player is wrong’ because you have to be protecting of these guys in that situation.

“They want to be out there. I think I have a pretty good idea of what a guy can do and what a guy can’t do, and I don’t think he is ready to be out there right now.”

One last note here. ... Kenny Britt (knee/groin), who missed his second consecutive game last Sunday, worked on a limited basis Wednesday. I'll be following up on his status as the week progresses.