HC Freddie Kitchens (11.24.19)
Head Coach Freddie Kitchens:
Opening statement:
“I thought our guys were focused all week with a task at hand on an everyday basis. They stayed focused to try to do Wednesday football on Wednesday, Thursday football on Thursday and so on down the road. It showed early in this game that they were focused and ready to play. That was good to see. They did their work from Friday afternoon to Sunday when it is all mental from that point on. Good complementary football all day.”
On what it says about the team to be focused today despite distractions the past week:
“At the end of the day, there is nothing else going on. There is nothing going on. We have to focus on what we have to do on an everyday basis. They are going to play that game either way. They were going to play the game on Sunday. Our guys did a good job of staying focused during the course of the week. I really never had a doubt that they would. We have been doing it all year. When you deal with adversity, you have to run toward each other and stay together, and that is what they did.”
On his offense:
“It is not my offense. It is our offense.”
On how the Browns offense performed today:
“I would like to come out in the second half and be a little more efficient, but yeah, those guys did a great job of executing in tough situations. They executed in the red zone. They executed on third down for the most part. I think we were 50 percent on third down, which we still had a couple out there that we could have gotten. We are going to continue to work the same way we did last week. We are going to continue to work on Wednesday. Nothing is going to change. We are just going to continue to work and get better, but those guys did a great job of executing today.”
On if he feels like the rhythm between QB Baker Mayfield and WR Odell Beckham Jr. is coming together:
“I think Odell and Baker did a good job of being where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there, and Baker did a good job of getting the ball to him. Our offensive line did a good job of protecting the passer, and then they did a good job of finishing the catches. It was good today. They executed today at a high level. It is what we need moving forward.”
On the Browns offense and defense starting the game strongly today:
“I think that is the goal every week is to start fast on offense and get a three-and-out and defense. We were able to do that. We need to continue doing that moving forward. We have done a good job off and on during the course of the year, but it was good to get both sides on the same page today and do it consistently.”
On if Mayfield has been continuing to play better over the past three games:
“Yeah, the ball has bounced up and that is how some of the interceptions happened earlier in the year. Baker is going to wish that he had thrown a better ball, but stuff happens. It was the right read. We just have to make the play and make the catch – make the throw, make the catch – better throw and of course, make the catch.”
On Mayfield’s overall performance:
“I thought Baker knew exactly what he was doing all day. He was efficient. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. I thought we handled the no-huddle situation very good and got down there and then stalled out a little bit. No-huddle went well. He was good. He was really good.”
On if the Browns liked their matchups across the board, given the Dolphins’ DB personnel:
“Those guys are NFL players, but we like Odell, Jarvis and we liked our other receivers. We like (RB) Kareem (Hunt) and (RB) Nick (Chubb). We like our matchups, yeah. We just picked the one we liked best.”
On if this is the best possible time to face the Steelers and if he can find something to quibble about with this upcoming game:
“Quibble? You are trying to come strong with words now, aren’t you? You do not think I know what it means, do you? (laughter) I think it does not matter. It is a division game coming up so our guys will be ready to play.”
On the performance of the Browns DL without three starters:
“I think they continued to fight all day. It was not easy. Generating pressure was not easy. When we did, Fitz (Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick) did a good job of scrambling out of there and making plays with his feet so that makes it difficult, but those guys continued to fight. When it is like that, we just need to continue to make them snap the ball and just continue to snap the ball. No big plays and just snap the ball over and over and over again, and I thought those guys did a good job of that.”
On the performance of DT Sheldon Richardson at DE:
“Sheldon Richardson is a great football player. His motor, he demonstrated great leadership skills this week, which we needed. Sheldon is a guy that is going to be there in the end. He showed up for us this week.”
On if he noticed a difference in WR Jarvis Landry this week preparing to his former team:
“No, I think Jarvis prepares like that every week. I did not think he was any different. He knows this is a long season, you have to prepare every week and you kind of start on Wednesday and you kind of build your momentum during the course of the week and by Sunday, you are ready to play mentally and physically. Nothing changed, I do not think. Jarvis does a good job of keeping composure, maintaining composure and not getting too high nor too low, which serves him well during the course of a 16-game season.”
On if having faced so many great defenses to begin the season has helped the offense down the stretch:
“We do not put the schedule together, but we do know that we played six or seven of the top eight defenses in the league. We have to line up and execute. It is all about execution. It truly is. It is about execution, and when we execute, we are pretty good, and when we do not, we are not. We just have to find consistency and execute more often. We did that today and it was a good result, but we have to come to work Wednesday and try to go 1-0 next week.”
On the Steelers benching QB Mason Rudolph against the Bengals and his potential absence in Week 13 against Cleveland:
“I did not know anything about it, and I do not have anything to comment about it. We are going to show up and play Sunday. We are going to show up and prepare on Wednesday. I did not know that. I am not trying to avoid the question. I just had not heard anything about anything. I am going to enjoy this one.”
On keeping the team focused this week coming off a win and in preparation for another matchup with the Steelers:
“Yeah, I have confidence our team is going to stay focused this week. I do not have a doubt in it.”
On LB Joe Schobert recording two interceptions in back-to-back games:
“I thought he had his best game – I know since I have been here – last week. I would have to see everything, but I thought he was pretty damn good today. I think Joe is playing really well.”
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