Daily Dawg Tags: Hue Jackson playing coy on QB1

Spanning the virtual globe to bring you the latest news about the Cleveland Browns and the NFL – these are your Daily Dawg Tags for Wednesday, Aug. 7.

The Cleveland Browns are just four days away from their game with the Cincinnati Bengals and head coach Hue Jackson is still playing coy about who will start the game at quarterback.

“We were just knocking off the rust from being gone,” Jackson said on Monday. “We have to get game preparations this week, and I will know more then.”

Even if Jackson hasn’t come out and said it, it will be a pretty major surprise if he doesn’t pick Robert Griffin III as the starter against the Bengals.

With the way Cleveland’s quarterbacks have played it probably doesn’t really matter who Jackson turns to from the group of Griffin, Josh McCown, Cody Kessler and Kevin Hogan.

And with Griffin’s injury history and declining skills, even if he is named the starter, he probably won’t last long in the lineup.

Cleveland Browns news:

Does Terrelle Pryor hold the key to a Browns victory?

If the Cleveland Browns are going to pick up a win in 2016, Terrelle Pryor will need to be involved in all aspects of the offense during the final four games.

Cleveland Browns: Week 14 NFL power rankings

The Cleveland Browns may not receive much love in the weekly NFL power rankings, but a look around the league reveals the Browns in better shape than many believe.

Browns fan base rated at No. 173 in the world

Cleveland Browns fans may be tortured, but they sure are loyal. While those in Cleveland may consider this fan base to be one of the best in the NFL, FanSided placed this bunch among the best in the world. FanSided released its Fandom 250 rankings today, ranking the top 250 fan bases in all areas of entertainment and pop culture. Browns fans came in at No. 173.

Eagles’ struggles could land Browns two top-10 picks in 2017 (ESPN)

Some good news for the winless Cleveland Browns: The Philadelphia Eagleshave lost three in a row and five of their last six. Which means the Browns could have two top-10 picks in next April’s NFL draft.

RG3: ‘It’s all falling the right way for me’ (clevelandbrowns.com)

There was a time when Robert Griffin III wasn’t sure if he’d take another snap this season. His debut as the Browns quarterback ended with a broken bone in his left shoulder and he was placed on injured reserve shortly thereafter. But the odds gave way to “the best-case scenario” when Griffin was cleared to play last week.

NFL news:

49ers announce Colin Kaepernick will remain starter (CBS Sports)

Colin Kaepernick was unceremoniously benched during the 49ers’ 26-6 loss to the Bears on Sunday in Chicago. Kaepernick had completed only one of five passes for 4 yards at the time he was pulled from the game, as the 49ers had a run-to-pass ratio of over 6-to-1 at the time. This coming Sunday against the Jets, Kaepernick is retaining his role as the starter, 49ers offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins announced Tuesday.

Tom Brady’s exit plan is big question left now (Boston Herald)

Troy Brown ripped a page out of the David Ortiz playbook Sunday when he dropped an F-bomb during a halftime ceremony honoring the 2001 Patriots. Will Tom Brady be the next member of the Patriots to steal a piece of Big Papi’s act?

Colts LB D’Qwell Jackson suspended 4 games for PEDs (Indianapolis Star)

The Colts defense was dealt a massive blow Tuesday when it learned captain D’Qwell Jackson, the inside linebacker who’s started every game for the team since arriving via free agency in 2014 and leads the Colts in tackles this year, has violated the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Raiders, Cowboys most watchable teams (NFL.com)

The final act of the 2016 campaign is setting up to be a doozy. This is one of those years where the best, freshest stories happen to reside with the best teams. A return to dominance for national teams like Dallas and Oakland has provided a welcome shakeup to an NFL hierarchy that was growing too familiar. It’s almost impossible to overhype this Raiders offense or a Cowboys team led by two rookie MVP candidates, although we’ll try, with Dallas one game into a prime-time streak of four straight weeks.