Robert Griffin III

Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III will start and Cody Kessler will back him up.

(John Kuntz / cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Browns will go with only two quarterbacks today in starter Robert Griffin III and Cody Kessler.

Josh McCown and Kevin Hogan were both inactive.

In the first meeting, a 31-17 loss, Hogan rushed for 104 yards, second-most by a Browns quarterback in history. He's also the last Brown to rush for 100 yards.

For the Bengals, receiver A.J. Green is inactive with his hamstring, as expected.

In 11 games against the Browns, Green caught 52 passes for 824 yards and six TDs.

Even Joe Haden, who's guarded him all of these years, admitted it's a break.



"I'm not going to lie to you,'' he said. "Not trying to knock any other guys, but A.J.'s a special talent. Not every team has an A.J. So it's definitely in our favor. It's a little bit better for me that he's not out there. But speaking to that, their last game without him, they looked really, really, really good. So Andy Dalton, he's stepping his game up putting the ball on the money and the other receivers are definitely knowing that it's their time."



Haden acknowledged that he'll miss another chance to cover one of the best in the league. Tyler Boyd will start in his place.



"Definitely. He's always a great matchup,'' he said. "I sent him a text when I first heard about it, wishing that he gets back with a speedy recovery. You never want to see that with the top athletes and especially me being hurt before and understanding what's like to not be able to be out there. I kind of know what he's going through, so I just wanted to send him a couple words and let him know that I just hope he gets back fast."



The absence of Green, however, didn't prevent the Bengals from routing the Eagles last week, 32-14. They scored on their first six possessions to take a 29-0 lead



Other inactives for the Browns are defensive back Trae Elston, offensive lineman Gabe Izard, offensive lineman Shon Coleman and defensive lineman Tyrone Holmes.



Another inactive of note for the Bengals is long snapper Clark Harris, who also sat out the Eagles game.



