HC Freddie Kitchens (12.19.19)
Head Coach Freddie Kitchens:
Opening statement:
“I thought we had a good day on the field today and in the meeting rooms. We just need to finish the day and continue preparing for an excellent, excellent football team.”
On if DT Sheldon Richardson will be able to play on Sunday:
“Yeah, I think Sheldon will be fine. He will be good to go.”
On WR Odell Beckham Jr. clearing up rumors that stated he did not want to be in Cleveland by definitively saying he wants to be in Cleveland long term:
“Yeah, again, initially we were responding to speculation so I never knew anything. I said that yesterday, I did not ever know anything about that. I had never heard that. I had never seen that. No reactions or anything that would lead me to believe that. I always tend to take people for how they present themselves to me.”
On if he ever received a sense that Beckham was anything but fully on board:
“No, not all.”
On if the Browns can do anything offensively to slow the Ravens offense:
“Make first downs. You continue to make first downs. You get a new set of downs. You continue to hold on to the ball. It is all about creating, executing and converting on third downs. Keep control of the ball, no short fields, no turnovers – things that win games, especially since they have a knack of controlling the football.”
On why members of the Browns offense sometimes still do not initially line up correctly:
“Our guys are continuing to work to get better in all areas, and that is one of the areas we are going to continue to get better at.”
On if communication or other factors are leading to players not initially lining up correctly on offense:
“It could different reasons for different times, but we just need to continue to get better at that.”
On Richardson’s contributions to the Browns and evaluating his season:
“I have been happy with Sheldon. He gets to Sunday, and he is all energy, passion and plays hard. I do not know if I have seen a D lineman play as hard as Sheldon plays. Makes plays all over the field. You will look up, and he is over there on the sideline making plays and that is on a consistent basis. That is exactly what we thought we were getting and that is what we have gotten.”
On how has TE David Njoku responded to being inactive last Sunday:
“David is working hard, trying to get better, continuing to try to put his best foot forward and see what he can do.”
On if DE Olivier Vernon is expected to play Sunday:
“Like I said yesterday, we will see at the end of the week. We will see how he is progressing. He has been out there the last couple of days getting some reps, trying to move it along a little further so we will see.”
On what makes Ravens QB Lamar Jackson most dangerous:
“Just his ability to make plays to take care of the football and his ability to make plays when they present themselves. He does a good job of that, whether it is with his feet or with his arm.”
On what a shovel pass is supposed to exploit:
“The first thing it does is create misdirection. If you do not initially hand the ball off to anybody, sometimes you get a little softer defensively. It is just another way to run the ball.”
On if he has a good vibe as to how the team will perform on Sunday at this time of the week:
“I think it is a continual process during the course of the week. Sometimes you can be a little too high too early and lose it. You try to monitor and judge that based on just staying in the moment. That is the reason it is so crucial to stay in the moment and prepare. We are trying to handle Thursday football today, and then Friday, we will get Friday football in. What that looks like during the course of the year, you have to learn what that looks like and what it feels like. I think our guys have come back this week with great energy, have prepared that way and have taken it to the practice field. I am very pleased with them.”
On if he emphasizes the significance of playing the home finale at FirstEnergy Stadium:
“I think our fans offer great home field advantage from the standpoint of the passion that they being to the stadium. I think they really helped us the last game we played here, and hopefully, they help us this game. They always do. They come with passion and energy. Certain games are better than others, but two weeks ago was definitely one that they really helped us on.”
On if there are any lingering emotions from the incident between WR Odell Beckham Jr. and Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey:
“No, I think Odell is preparing this week and is focused on this week.”
On differences in the Ravens defense since Week 4:
“We go off of what they have done lately. We do not go off of what we did before. We are trying to prepare to score when we get the ball this week. Like I said yesterday, they added some pieces that have made them much better defensively. Those guys are playing good together. They are creating plays for themselves, they are getting off the field on third down, they are creating turnovers and they are doing all the things necessary to be a very good defense.”
On the Ravens leader on defense:
“I would assume that they have more than one leader on defense. I would assume they have several. I know the guys that they have brought in were tremendous additions from that standpoint, as well. I can imagine that they got several leaders on defense.”
On if he trusting the process C JC Tretter is going through:
“Yeah, JC will be ready to go Sunday. He did some things today, and we will just continue to monitor him moving forward.”
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