BEREA, Ohio -- In his brief NFL career, Austin Davis has learned to embrace every opportunity that comes his way.
And that is exactly why Davis chose to sign with the Cleveland Browns on Monday afternoon after being released by St. Louis during final roster cuts over the weekend following a three-year run with the Rams.
"(It's) just good to get here and get things rolling," Davis said. "I think there's an opportunity here and you take everything you can get in this league. I'm just going to hit the ground running and go to work.
"I was really looking forward to going back in and competing and really having a chance to build on what I did last year. (I) didn't really get that opportunity, so where one door closes, another one opens and that brings me here and I'll be ready to go."
Until the Browns signed Davis, they had just two quarterbacks on the active roster, starter Josh McCown and backup Johnny Manziel, the latter of whom missed the last two preseason games and nearly two weeks of practice because of soreness and tightness in his right elbow.
"Austin is a guy that his name has come up often," Browns coach Mike Pettine said. "He's played some quality minutes in this league. He does not have practice-squad eligibility so the only way to get him was to put him on the 53. Also, given still the uncertainty, without going into detail, we feel good about where Johnny is, but it was an opportunity for us to add Austin, and that was really the only way we could do it."
Over the first two years of his NFL career, Davis, a 26-yead old native of Ringgold, Georgia, did not play in a regular-season game, but got his chance to take over the Rams' offense for half of the year in 2014 when injuries besieged St. Louis' quarterbacks early in the season.
Already without the services of starting quarterback Sam Bradford because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee suffered in a preseason game against the Browns last August, the Rams started Shaun Hill under center. However, Hill suffered an injury in the season opener, and Davis was then given his opportunity to play.
In 10 games, eight of which were starts, Davis completed 180 of his 284 pass attempts (63.4 percent) for 2,001 yards and 12 touchdowns against nine interceptions. Despite being sacked 29 times for 179 lost yards, Davis carried an 85.1 quarterback rating through the 2014 season.
"I've already noticed there's some similarities to the offense I was already in, so there's some terminology things that'll fit right in, which will help, but it takes time," Davis said. "Once you do learn something on paper, it's good to get physical reps. That'll be the challenge as we're getting ready to go into the season. It's game plan, it's not learn the playbook time, so I have to spend some extra time and get caught up.
"It was a good learning experience and I'm looking to build on it. I think the biggest thing is I proved to myself I can do it, and that was really the biggest step. Until you get out there and play and put the ball in the end zone, lead the team, win games, until you do it, you don't really know, in the back of your mind. You're kinda second-guessing. To be able to get out and play and win and just know that I can do it, now I'm ready to build on that."
The 2014 season served as Davis' first live-game regular-season action since his days at Southern Mississippi (2008-2011), where in four years, he completed 933 of his 1,527 attempts for 10,892 yards and 83 touchdowns against 27 interceptions.
"I want to be a quarterback that understands the system, gets the quarterback in the right play, doesn't turn the ball over, makes good decisions, and ultimately, puts points on the board and understands what we're doing. Keeping the offense out of bad plays, that's all part of the quarterback's role."
