LG Joel Bitonio (6.7.23)
Joel, obviously, you’re one of the longtime Browns. What were your thoughts on Jim Brown’s passing? Yeah, that was obviously heartbreaking for the organization. He really meant so much to the organization and the city of Cleveland. We watched a little video today that Coach Stefanski put out. Just for sports and social justice and all those things for his whole life, really. He’s been around the team since I got drafted. I remember he’d fly with the team when I was young, when he was a little bit healthier and stuff. And we got to see him a little bit last year But he lived a full life, and it was obviously a sad day.
Do you remember meeting him for the first time? Not vividly. I mean, obviously, I was like, oh, my gosh, it’s Jim Brown. You know what I mean? But I don’t remember the first conversation. But he was so open to talking to guys and to just having a conversation. If he was sitting at dinner or after a meeting or something like that, you could really ask him any questions you wanted, and he was there just to try and help the team out or guys out however way possible.
Did you happen to watch the sports award show, Joel, before the Super Bowl? Yeah, I was there.
Because they showed Jim Brown on camera, and it was shocking how he deteriorated. I saw him there. Yes, he was getting a little bit older, and it was tough. I think everybody kind of knew time was coming, but I think he was 87 years old. Right? Yeah, that’s a full life. And he played a lot of sports and did a lot of things in his life. But, yeah, I did get to see him there and at least say hello.
They are kicking around some ideas on how to best honor him. Do you have any thoughts on what you’d like to see happen? I haven’t truly thought about it. I know they’ll come up with something good, probably like a jersey patch or a helmet thing or something like that. Maybe something on the field. I’m sure they’ll find a good way to honor him. Hopefully win some games. I think that’ll be the best thing possible, right? Like win some games and have a really good season for him.
When Watson came in last year for the six games, it was a big adjustment for the offensive line in particular. He’d run into sacks on occasion. It was a whole different world. Can work be done here on that or do you have to wait until training camp? There’s definitely work. You can always do some work. I think you get more plays in the structure that Deshaun feels comfortable with, that we can feel comfortable with. Even when he was here for last year’s training camp, you take 10-11 weeks off in the season you work with another guy like Jacobi, it’s a different world for him. So I think there’s time. I think timing with the receivers, all that stuff adds into protection and stuff, it all works together. There’s eleven guys on the field and I think there’s a lot of things you can work on here. But I think training camp is when it really gets ramped up, when you have guys flying in front and having to move in the pocket a little bit. I think he’s always going to try and make plays with his legs and extend plays, and that’s what makes him special. You saw against the Commanders last year when he did that a few times and really made those big plays.
Is he the most mobile quarterback that you blocked for in your this will be your 10th year, right? I don’t know. Hoyer was pretty fast. I’m just kidding.
So how big of an adjustment would that be for you? Is it more for a guard or a tackle, do you think? I think besides mobility, it’s really like where they set up in the pocket. You know what I mean? How you set up in the pocket, how long you hold the ball for. The mobility is always a bonus. You saw him last year, he did move around the pocket. There were times where he broke tackles that were sacks and made big runs for us. So I think just getting used to where he sets up in the pocket and how he gets rid of the ball and the timing.
Is there a Callahan teaching point for that to you guys on that? Yeah. Just know where he’s at. If he sets the ten yards, our tackles need to realize, we have to get a little bit more depth and stuff like that. So we’re kind of feeling it right out, getting the film on it. So when it comes to training camp and games, we can kind of realize where we set. And I think he does set a little bit deeper than Jacobi did.
When you look at the Browns record books, Nick Chubb’s getting up there, and after games we’ll see notes like he’s the first running back since Jim Brown to do this. As someone who’s been here as long as you have, what would it mean for you to see Nick climb up the record books? Yeah, it’d be great. I’ve said this a lot, that’s he’s one of my favorite teammates. I think the way he carries himself, the way he works, where he puts the team first, it all makes for a special player. But anytime we can get Nick accolades and hopefully he climbs up the record book for us. When we’re watching that video today, I was like in the most respectful way possible, I was like, Jim Brown looks like Nick Chubb got thrown back into like 1960 and is running against these guys. Like how athletic and strong and fast he was. But no, they are two great running backs. I know Nick will tell you we want to try and get wins any way possible, but anything we can do to help him out is a bonus.
Joel, you look at the Deshaun out on the field, you see the body language. It seems like a lot more demonstrative, a lot more confident. Do you notice a difference in that regard, that it’s his team now? Yeah, I showed up the other day and he just feels more comfortable, I think, calling plays, breaking the huddle, like you said, leading all those things where you’re around the guys for a year, over a year now, he’s getting more comfortable doing that kind of stuff. And anytime you’re in an offense, this is our fourth year with Stefanski. There’s obviously wrinkles and new things that we’re putting in, but I think everybody’s going to continue to get comfortable. But quarterback is probably the most important position in sports. He’s feeling more comfortable and hopefully we can translate that on the field.
Nationally, it feels like Browns are definitely under the radar this year. Do you like that? I don’t even think about it, honestly, because I’ve had years where ‘the Browns are going to do this’, ‘The Browns are going to do that.’ We’ve got to do it on the field. We’ve got to perform on the field and figure it out that way.
Joel as the longest tenured guy you’ve seen a lot of coaches come and go here. I know it’s not your side of the ball per se, but has anything jumped out at you either through observation or just kind of talking to guys in the locker room about Schwartz coming here. I’ve heard that he’s a little fiery at times, you know what I mean? But, no, I know he has a lot of experience in this league. Schwartz. his defense has been good in the past and I think we have the right guys up front to make that work and the right corners and safeties in the back end to make that work, too. But he’s definitely a commanding presence and I think it’s going to be good for. Us, I think with coach Stefanski. And Coach Schwartz and AVP and really the whole crew. Bubba, we had our meeting today and all this is working really well. I think it’s a good coaching staff and as players, we’ve got to learn and perform.
You’ve done a lot here. You haven’t done a training camp field trip to West Virginia. So what do you think about this? I don’t know how the weather is. It seems probably hotter than here. So that was my main thing and my wife’s like, ‘are you going to be gone for ten days now?’ So that’s a little bit tough too, but we’ll see. I was talking to the guys from the Saints that have been up there for training camp. For them, it’s cooler, so they’re like excited to go up there. And I was like, I think it might be a little hotter for us. Someone said the hotel might be haunted or something like that, so we’ll see how that goes. I wish it was like, oh, we go there for, like, three days to play golf and then start training camp. But no, it should be an experience. It’ll be good to be around the guys for a little bit. We have a little extra time with Joe Thomas’s Hall of Fame game and everything like that, so we’ll have some time to get to know each other.
Do you plan to attend the ceremony? Yeah, I hope so. I think Kevin said we should be able to get out there and at least go to the ceremony.
Is that the official name, the Joe Thomas Hall of Fame game for us? For us? Yeah.