G Joel Bitonio (9.19.22)
On the mood in the building today after the loss to the NY Jets and if the team has a bounce-back attitude:
“The coaches are game planning still this morning so we just kind of worked out, rehab if you need it [in the] pool and things of that nature. I think everybody is in the right mindset. If you were not still disappointed in the performance yesterday with the way that it ended, I think there would be an issue with that. I think guys are ready to move on, take the next step and try to go 1-0 this week.”
On if team leaders feel the need to pull teammates together, including as it relates to miscommunication on defense leading to big plays:
“We talked about how we are not pointing fingers at anybody. Everybody had a chance to make a play to help win the game yesterday, and we all did not do enough. I think the guys on defense are talking about it and discussing what they want to do to limit those plays. I think everybody is still worrying about themselves and trying to be the best version of themselves and then we can come together as a team and hopefully put together a full team effort.”
On if this loss was the most frustrating of his career:
“It is up there. We have had some frustrating ones. It was one of the rarest ways to lose so it is definitely up there.”
On if there is a sense that the team has to have a concerted effort to make sure a game like yesterday’s does not separate the Browns offense and defense, given his comment that no one is pointing the blame at anyone else on the team:
“I do not think so because I think most guys know it is a long season. There is going to be a game this year that we got to win 14-13 or something low-scoring like that. There are times when the offense picks up, the defense picks up and the special teams picks up each other. That is why it is the greatest team sport in the world. You can have the best game in your career, and it might not matter if the other side of the ball is not doing their part that week. No one is pointing fingers at that. We understand it is a team game, and we just want to put the best version of the Browns out there that we can.”
On if the Browns offense feels good about its performance yesterday in the run and pass games:
“It was I think a better overall performance with the run game and the pass game. We kind of had to wear them down a little bit to get that run game going to where we wanted to go in the second half. It worked out, but we look at the tape, too, and you always want to learn from something. We had a couple of three-and-outs there that if we could have converted those, we could have maybe held the ball a little longer and gave us a better chance there. There is always stuff to clean up, but I thought that was a good recipe. We were efficient, we ran the ball successfully and I thought (QB) Jacoby (Brissett) was really, really sharp yesterday.”
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