HC Freddie Kitchens (10.1.19)
Head Coach Freddie Kitchens:
On when he learned WR Jarvis Landry was placed into concussion protocol:
“Sometime in the third quarter or fourth quarter – something like that. They were looking at him. They took him inside and then I heard he was in the protocol. We will let that play out and see where it is.”
On if Landry has to remain in concussion protocol for a certain amount of days:
“It is a constant evaluation and tests. You have to stay in there a certain length of time before they can give you the test again. I kind of just let them deal with that – the experts.”
On if it is encouraging that Landry has an extra day to potential return, given the Browns play on Monday night:
“Yeah, it is. It is encouraging that we in reality start practice a day later in the week. Hopefully, he will get back at some point and get some good reps in and get ready to play.”
On response the Baltimore Ravens’ website post that stated Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey did not choke WR Odell Beckham Jr. and Humphrey was trying to protect himself:
“Did you see the video? OK. That is my response. We are moving on to San Francisco. Everybody saw the video. That answers your question, right?”
On if has heard from the NFL regarding the Humphrey-Beckham altercation:
“I did talk to them, and I will keep that between them and me.”
On if he was satisfied with his conversation with the NFL:
“We talked, and I got an understanding and moving forward. I will compliment Odell for this: in that instance, he did an excellent job of not retaliating. I would say that. I thought he was in some positions all day and difficult situations all day. I thought he handled it fairly well.”
On if he agrees with the Ravens’ article stating that Beckham threw punches:
“You saw the video.”
On if there is a bigger chip on the Browns’ shoulder due to the altercation and Sunday’s game:
“I think our chip on our shoulder needs to be the next game we are playing. I think we have our priorities wrong if we are worried about this. That is kind of my job. It is not their job. I do not think they are worried about it. I think that our guys are focused on getting better. They were focused today on meeting, cleaning up the game and making corrections on the field. They are focused on moving on to the next game. I think that is what we tried to instill, and I think our guys have done a great job of doing that, staying focused and being in the moment.”
On if it bothers him that the Ravens’ website is defending Humphrey and his actions:
“It does not matter to me what they do. I do not care.”
On if he is of the belief pass interference calls will typically not get overturned when challenged:
“It has to be very, very clear before I throw a flag for PI. It does not really matter to me what they say to me afterwards or what they say during, or anything like that. Those are valuable, precious commodities we have to impact the game in a positive way. To take a chance on something that you know the percentages are not very high, I do not think that is the brightest thing to do, but I do think you have to pull the trigger per se whenever you have the opportunity. With the challenge flag [on the deep pass to WR Damion Ratley from Beckham], I had just thrown one a couple of plays before that and the way it works is you have to win two to get three. I did not want to play the whole second half without a challenge flag. I did not think it was worth it.”
On throwing a challenge flag during the preseason and if he was curious to see how officials would respond:
“That was the whole reason I threw it in the preseason – just to see. We picked out a good one, I thought, and it was not overturned. I looked at the percentages throughout the preseason and throughout the first few weeks of the regular season, and it needs to be pretty definite. The thing you run into sometimes is would they have called DPI or would they have called defensive holding? If they would of called defensive holding, it is not going to help you with your challenge. That is what you have to factor in, as well.”
On how much is on LB Mack Wilson’s plate in his role as starting WILL:
“Kirko (LB Christian Kirksey) was playing very good for us. Mack is an intelligent, bright guy with great instincts and awareness. I think he is doing a good job. I think he is going to continue to do a good job, and he is going to continue to get better. We are pleased with Mack. We just need him to make progress each and every day.”
On if opposing offensive coordinators are visibly picking on Mack, given his rookie status:
“I am sure they do. We are fine with that.”
On calling the double-reverse pass against the Ravens and if that was the result of the Ravens or simply wanting to incorporate trick plays into the game:
“I think we have had them in the plan before and I just did not call them. I guess the answer to that is yes and no. I would not have called it unless I thought it was going to work, and I would have called them before if I thought they would have worked. It is just a decision that I make.”
On the timing of Beckham’s pass to WR Damion Ratley and if the ball was supposed to be delivered to Ratley earlier:
“No, it was supposed to be down the field. It was actually exactly how I drew it up with ]Beckham] making this guy miss and making this guy miss and then throwing it off one leg 60 yards down the field (laughter). That is exactly what I was expecting to happen. Something happens when you put the ball in good players’ hands. Sometimes it is more about the players than it is the coaches, right? I have been telling you guys that.”
On how much he appreciates his communication with players about preferred plays:
“It is very important because I want you to be confident when you go on the field. If you feel like you can do something successfully, it is going to make you confident. What it also does is gives you some insight on how they are thinking their view of themselves, which helps you with further game planning down the road. I think it is very important. It creates ownership. I want ownership in our program. I want ownership from every area and every position. It serves several purposes.”
On T Chris Hubbard’s performance on Sunday:
“I thought Hub played his best game to date. I know he missed one, but I think he played his best game up to this point, which I fully expect him to do forward.”
On Hubbard returning from injury quickly:
“Definitely. When you are coming back from that injury after one week, he was still in the walking boot as on Tuesday of that week that he played. All of our guys up front are pretty tough individuals, mentally and physically. You have to be to be able to play those positions in this league. It says a lot about his character and his ability to fight through some things.”
On if WR Antonio Callaway has to prove something after returning from suspension:
“He has to prove that he knows what to do, knows how to do it and knows when to do it. Other than that, Antonio has played. He knows how to play the game. I am glad he is back.”
On if Callaway will help step into Landry’s position while Landry is out of practice with a concussion:
“Yeah, they play sort of the same spots on normal down and distance type stuff. We will have to see how that all fits in.”
On how much time the Browns have before adding Callaway to the 53-man roster and a corresponding move:
“I do not think we have to do that until the end of the week. I am not sure. That is probably a (General Manager) John (Dorsey) question. I know it is not anytime in the next couple of days.”
On an update on WR Rashard Higgins’ status:
“No, we did not do much today. We ran some, but it was straight ahead running. He looks like he is getting close to me, but I am not the trainer.”
On an update on the status of CB Denzel Ward and CB Greedy Williams:
“I am not sure about that. Those are all kind of day-to-day questions.”
On how Chubb embodies the spirit of the Cleveland Browns:
“Nick, first and foremost, is an excellent individual. He works his tail off every day he walks on the football field, walks into the weight room or walks into the classroom. You know exactly what you are getting from Nick every time he walks out there. Every time the clock starts turning, you know what you are going to get from him. After all of that, you throw in his ability, his skillset, his desire inside within to be successful and his resilient nature and chasing being good. I do not know what else you want in a football player.
On Chubb being frustrated after only getting 2 yards on fourth-and-9 against the LA Rams and potentially using that as motivation against the Ravens:
“I might need to run a couple more draws on fourth-and-9 (laughter). Maybe not at that time in the game.”
On Chubb’s emergence since joining the Browns:
“Nick came in during rookie minicamp, and he was ready to go. He has been that way. I have a lot of friends who coached him at the University of Georgia. He has been that way ever since he left high school. Nick Chubb is not changing. He is always going to have that pursuit of being great. You saw it. You saw it initially. You saw it how he worked. You saw it how he finished runs during a practice, and we are only talking about a rookie minicamp. He has always been that way.”
On Beckham’s impact on the locker room and Beckham as a teammate:
“Again, if you want to know what kind of character and what kind of player Odell is – everybody knows that he has a tremendous skillset and is very dynamic – but if you want to know what kind of football player he is, put on the tape of Jarvis’ runs of (TE) Ricky’s (Seals-Jones) run of him block and with Nick’s runs and watch where he is when they finally get tackled. That will tell you everything you need to know about Odell Beckham.”
On if Callaway’s speed is different than some other Browns WRs, specifically referencing a few catches last season:
“He has great acceleration into the ball that you just mentioned. Once he gets the ball into his hands, he can do something, too. It is always good to have guys who can do something with the football, and Antonio is definitely one of those guys. I am glad he is back.”
On if Browns players’ focus is equally as good following wins and losses:
“It is always better after a win. I do not buy into that. We really go back and coach them, and we better be coaching them every day because our guys, their desire for information is very high and we need to give them that. We need to give them good information. We need to give them good answers to their questions. Yes, it is definitely better after a win. This is three days removed, and we truly have moved on and our focus is on next week. I think our guys have bought into that, which is crucial during the course of a 16-game season. You can only play one game a week so you better be focused. Each game is precious.”
On challenges facing the 49ers:
“San Francisco probably has the best front that we have faced. They are very deep on the defensive line. Offensively, they are very versatile. They create a lot of misdirection and mismatches in space, which allow them to be successful with run after the catch, getting open and stuff like that. (49ers Head Coach) Kyle (Shanahan) does a great job there from the standpoint of that offensively, and defensively, they are playing hard and their front is probably the best front we have played this year up to this point.”
On the difficulties traveling to the West Coast for a Monday night football game:
“Anytime you leave Cleveland, it is difficult. You mentioned the length of travel, and that adds another piece of adversity. A Monday night game adds another piece of adversity – more attention. This team is doing a lot of things for the first time. I think they have handled it very well. The ones that we have not handled very well, we have gotten better. We have identified a problem and then rectified that problem, like we were trying to do during training camp when we would have a bad day at practice. All of those pieces kind of come together, and then you get into the midst of everything and you can pull from those experiences that you have had. I expect our guys to handle this well, and as long as you stay focused and stay in the moment, we will be fine. Now, getting back for the coaches, it is not going to be very fun.”
On if the Browns’ schedule has bothered him with multiple primetime games, Monday games and traveling early in the season:
“I would have made the schedule differently, but they did not ask me when they did it. We are very happy for our fans. To play these primetime types games, it is exciting for our fans. We just want to put our best foot forward for that particular week, whatever time the game is.”
# # #