Select Browns Players (9.8.24)
OL JOEL BITONIO
How much does that kind of performance sting?
“It sucks. We didn’t play up to our expectations. All the credit to the Cowboys. They came out and hit us in the face on both sides, we got down and had to throw the ball a little bit. We didn’t protect well enough as a group on the O-Line. It was disappointing. We talked about it being one week, but we have to look in the mirror and say what can each one of us do better for next week.”
The penalties really hurt, what can you do to clean that up?
“First and 10 is hard enough, 1st and 15 or 1st and 20 is not easy. We have to clean those up. I think we had eight on offense. Alot of them were illegal formations and stuff that negated big plays for us, or put us behind the sticks. Not what you want to do. It’s definitely an emphasis, we need to clean it up this week.”
Is there anything drastic that needs to be changed?
“No, nothing needs to be drastic. You don’t want to overreact to Game 1. We do want to play better. It’s not an overreaction to say that – it’s just what we need to do.”
It felt like all game, the Cowboys dialed up the pressure. Why where they so effective?
“We got into a lot of passing situations. I’m not sure how many rushes we had that were true runs, but it was more game script than the plan. You get behind, you have to throw the ball a little bit. They have good pass-rushers and we have to protect better as a group. It’s starts with us up front and we want to be better.”
WR JERRY JEUDY
What is the mindset knowing you have to put this one behind you?
“First, we have to go in tomorrow and focus, watch the film and see what need to correct, what we need to work, what we need to get better at and progress from there.”
What was the biggest challenge in the first game?
“We had a lot of penalties. We can’t play behind the sticks. It makes it hard on our offense, so we just have to do a better job with pre-snap penalties, focus on the small details on plays.”
How much was the Cowboys pressure upfront disruptive to what Deshaun (Watson) and you guys were trying to do offensively?
“They did a good job pressuring. At the end of the day, it’s what we do. We just have to do a better job focusing on our assignment, focusing play-by-play and just be better than we were today.”
Even though it was just one game, what was missing on the connections and making this run like a well-oiled machine?
“Like I said, the penalties killed us. We cannot have that many penalties as a unit. We just have to sustain drives, convert on third down, keep drives going. We just need to do better on that.”
OT James Hudson III
How early in the week did you know you were going to get the start?
“I knew pretty soon. Like I said, I’ve been getting those reps throughout the offseason, just being ready in case those guys weren’t going to be ready. I just wanted to go out there and take full advantage of my opportunity”
Why was Dallas able to get so much pressure throughout the afternoon, and how disruptive was that?
“I would say it was pretty disruptive, how many sacks did they have? Five? It’s unacceptable. We have to be better. Period.”
How much did they move Micah (Parsons) around?
“They moved him around pretty good. They moved him all around the line of scrimmage. I think the only place where he didn’t line up was over the left guard. He lined up everywhere. He’s a hell of a player”
DE Za’Darius Smith
What was the messaging from you guys, as the offense was struggling to get things going?
“We all got each other’s back. If they couldn’t score then we were trying to get some kind of score. Get a strip sack or something, a pick six, but obviously that didn’t happen because they were getting the ball out quick. We’re going to watch this film and correct our mistakes”
When the schedule came out you guys knew Dallas was going to be an opponent you had circled, and then you guys had the game you had today, what’s the most disappointing thing about that?
“No disappointment. It’s football, it’s a game. That’s how we’re looking at it. It’s still a team sport. Just gotta get better. Practice makes perfect, so we gotta go out and practice this week, get ready for next week”
CB Martin Emerson Jr.
What was the messaging between the two sides of the ball today?
“Fight. You’re never out of the game. You don’t fail until you quit, and you’ve always got a chance as long as there’s time on the board, so we just gotta keep fighting and keep being relentless no matter what’s on the scoreboard”
When we talked to Jim (Schwartz) this week, he mentioned there was some concern that you guys as a defense hadn’t played a ton as a defense together in training camp, do you think that played a role today?
“No, because we know what team we are. I feel like we had enough reps together. Just gotta start faster.”