S Grant Delpit (1.5.22)
On the disappointment that QB Baker Mayfield will be unable to finish the season due to injury:
“He has to take care of his health. He has been dealing with it for a while. I do not know everything about it so I could not tell you, but that shoulder has been bothering him. I am glad he could get that taken care of.”
On the mood of the team heading into the final game of the regular season:
“It is a blessing to be out there. If you are out there, you are going to play hard. There is no reason you should not play hard. I have full faith the guys will do that. I am not worried about it.”
On facing the Bengals without Bengals RB Joe Mixon, who is being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list:
“Next man up. Our mentality is just to go in there and get a win. Whoever they have out there, we have to deal with. That is news to me. I did not know that. At the end of the day, we are going to have to go out here and compete. Whoever is out there, we have to plan for and beat.”
On playing the bulk of the 2021 season after sustaining a season-ending Achilles injury last year:
“Like I said, I am just blessed to be here. Last year was a crazy year for me. I did a lot of rehab and lot of work in order to come back. To reach the end of the season healthy is great. I had a little scare last game, but thankfully it is nothing serious – just a little bruise. It means a lot to make it through and finish the season off right.”
On if he sustained a knee bruise last week:
“Yeah, just a little bruise. It is all good.”
On the key to the Browns defense having several strong performances during the second half of the season:
“We did have a lot of new guys, including me – I did not play last year. I guess it was just gelling together as a team and as a defense and knowing what each other’s strengths and weaknesses were and playing around that. Obviously, we did not do enough to win and have a successful season so we are going to build off this year and get ready for next year.”
On losing multiple players in the Browns secondary to injury during the past few games:
“We have been pretty beat up, but we do not blink. We are out here for a reason. We all have a job to do. If you are out there, you are going to play hard, and you are going to play to the standard and the expectation. We do not really think about it. When we are out there, we are just playing football really. We would love to have those guys back, but if you are hurt, you can’t be out there or if you have COVID, you can’t be out there so next man up.”
On playing 14 games this season after being on injured reserve with an Achilles injury his rookie year and if he is back to where he hoped to be at this point:
“Yeah, I feel healthy. I feel as healthy as I can be. Getting this year under my belt was good for me. The game is slowing down a little bit so it is going to be a good stepping stone for next year.”
On the Browns defense’s success against the Bengals and Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase in Week 9 and if he spoke to Chase after the game:
“I think he knows that he left a couple of plays out there, but also, our defense was on one, we were creating turnovers and getting after the ball. With those two factors playing in, we were able to get the best of him, but just last week, he had – what, 266 yards or something crazy like that? I know he is feeling it, and he is in his groove right now so we have to come with it again.”
On if the Bengals game was the Browns defense’s best performance of the season:
“I do not know. It was a good game. I do not know if it was our best game of the year. Chicago, we had nine sacks. Rush and coverage work together. I do not know how many sacks we had in the Bengals game, but we had a couple forced fumbles and a couple of picks. It was a good overall game.”
On how the Browns defense can try to replicate their performance in Week 9, especially given the Bengals offense’s strong performance in recent weeks:
“Just watch the film, see what we did good and see what we did not do good. Watch their last couple of games and see what they have been able to do. It is a prolific offense. It is a high-powered offense. We have to stop it. It is the last game of the season. We should lay everything on the line so there should not be a reason that we should not go out there and not giving 100 percent.”
On evaluating Bengals QB Joe Burrow on film:
“Joe, he is just cool, calm and collected. He can make plays on the run. Also, he is decisively fast. He can get the ball to his playmakers in clutch situations. He has been like that since college. It is nothing new for me from what I have seen, but I guess he is kind of catching the league by storm a little bit.”
On Burrow sharing recently that he will not play in Week 18:
“I had a feeling he was not going to play, just with the position of that team. Whoever is out there, we have to deal with.”
On how CB Greedy Williams is doing after sustaining a shoulder injury at Pittsburgh:
“I do not know. I saw him today. I saw he was in the training room getting worked on. If he is able to be out there, he is, and if he is not, he is not.”
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