"Everything has got to be perfect for us to have a chance to win a football game."

That postgame quote from Browns coach Hue Jackson tells us everything we need to know about "the process" that has guided the franchise's latest do-over.

Reading Jackson's quote Sunday night, hours after the 0-8 Browns suffered their fourth loss of at least 14 points, brought me back to a conversation I had last week with the great Jim Donovan.

I asked the Browns' play-by-play voice if the fans' attitude seemed different now, with the team struggling to fill FirstEnergy Stadium and with apathy appearing to mount by the week.

"Last year, I think everyone was prepared for it," Donovan said of the constant losing. "Last year, they went in and said we're going to take it down to the studs, it will be a total rebuild and it will take some time. They knew it was going to be rough. But it's one thing to say it was going to be rough and another to live through it.

"It was unbelievable," Donovan continued, "when you're there every week and once Christmas Eve comes and there's a chance you're not going to win any games. Even though you prepared for it, you're not prepared to see the losses every week. But I think everybody said, 'OK, we don't want to see that again,' and they came into this season thinking they were going to be better, but the product hasn't been there and the improvement hasn't been there."

That's the thing about those who defend Sashi Brown and the front office, saying that this isn't that bad and this was the plan all along — to stockpile assets, with the goal of being a contender in 2018 or, more likely, 2019.

But, as you can hear in Jackson's voice and see in his face at each postgame news conference, it's not nearly that simple.

Losing 23 times in 24 games really beats down a team. These aren't Madden seasons that you simulate, and everything is then great three years later.

And this isn't the NBA, a league in which one superstar drafted after years of trying to lose can change everything.

In the NFL, that player is the quarterback, and even he — as the front-office defenders constantly remind us — can only do so much if the rest of the pieces are a jumbled mess.

Well, in the Browns' case, the front office and Jackson have been at their worst when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks.

As the Browns have been starting the likes of Robert Griffin, Josh McCown, Cody Kessler, DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan, two QBs selected in draft spots previously occupied by the Browns have been among the league's best.

You're probably tired, to put it kindly, of hearing about Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson, so we'll keep it brief. Watson leads the league in QBR, two spots ahead of Wentz, and they're tied for the top spot in touchdown passes, at 19.

One and a half seasons in, the latest Browns regime has overseen a club that has been outscored 654-383 in 24 games — an average score of 27-16.

Only nine of the 23 losses have been by single digits, and Jackson has called the plays for an offense that has ranked 31st in points per game each year.

"The only way to define it is winning games," Donovan said of the Browns' lack of progress. "In the preseason, they won all four games, and you start to think maybe this is starting to head in the right direction, but the fact they have played seven games (prior to the 33-16 loss to the Vikings) and they haven't won is really a punch in the nose to the fans."

One of the many criticisms directed at Sashi Brown and his staff is that the Browns have not just gone with a young roster, but they've pretty much eradicated it of players with more than a couple years of NFL experience.

Donovan thinks that has been one of the most significant problems.

"I think what they're doing right now is the roster is so young from top to bottom, I think they're finding a little more veteran leadership or age would have helped a lot of these younger players get an introduction to go on the field and compete," the longtime WKYC personality said. "It's one thing to play in the preseason against third- and fourth-stringers. But once it's for real, there's a tremendous void in veteran experience. And I don't think a coach can always add that. You need a guy lined up next to you who can really help you. In a lot of the cases, that guy is equally young if not younger than the guy he's lining up with. They're so young, from the top to the bottom of the roster, other than Joe Thomas, and now he's hurt."

Asked if he sees any signs of hope for the future, aside from draft assets, Donovan was just as skeptical, if not more so, than a lot of us.

"Myles Garrett can be a great, great player, but you wonder if can he stay on the field and be healthy," Donovan said. "Is he ever going to be able to go out there and not worry about high ankle sprains, concussions and whatever foot problems he had leading up the season? I think he can be great, but if he's missing games, that becomes a problem. When it comes to the top draft picks, that's the same with Corey Coleman, who has missed a ton of time with injuries. It's all on potential, but you're not seeing that potential come to fruition because of injuries. There aren't a lot of veterans on the roster."

The talent level for a franchise that has made 36 selections in the last three drafts, including six first-rounders and 15 picks in the first three rounds, is every bit as poor as Jackson inferred after the latest Sunday debacle.

The Browns probably knew they were going to stink again this season.

But there's no way they thought it was going to be even worse in Year 2.

Well, it is, which means that even if the plan was solid, the execution of it has been terrible.

You can follow me on Twitter for sports information and analysis, but not tweets in support of the Browns' process. (We don't believe complete roster teardowns are the right move in the NFL. There are way too many positions to fill.)