HC Freddie Kitchens (12.22.19)
Head Coach Freddie Kitchens:
Opening statement:
“It was very disappointing. The result was very disappointing. At the end of the day, we did not do enough to get off the field on third down and then making plays to stay on the field offensively on third down. I though special teams, besides the missed extra point, played extremely hard and extremely well. I am proud of the way the guys kept fighting and kept battling to the very end so I am proud of them for that. I just wish we could have made a few more plays to get the job done and get the result that we wanted.”
On electing to throw the ball late in the first half rather than run the clock out:
“We could have. We were trying to get the clock started. A couple of short passes that got batted down. We could have ran it and could have done a lot of things but called a couple of 5-yard routes and the clock never got started so it is second guess once it happened.”
On the third-and-1 with RB Kareem Hunt that resulted in a loss:
“Yeah, trying to take a shot and go for it on fourth down if we did not get it, but it did not happen. Trick play… It was going to be a halfback pass and the corner came off the edge. If we would have gotten it off, we would have been alright.”
On if the Browns WR downfield was open on the halfback pass:
“A couple of different things happened on that play that should not have happened, but I will just say it was an option pass and I should not have called it. It is one of those plays you try to call and you try to create some momentum. If it does not happen, you come back and get it on fourth-and-1, and we just lost some yardage.”
On planning to go for it on fourth down if the halfback pass was incomplete:
“Definitely. Fourth-and-1 – definitely.”
On how deflating the loss is after playing well to start the game:
“Yeah, it is always deflating, but I think we came out and moved the ball offensively in the second half. Things happen during the course of the game – ups and downs. You have to be able to overcome the downs and convert on the ups to create them into seven points. We just did not do that enough. At the end of the day, we did not get off the field on third down. They were 7-11 on third down and were 3-12 so there is a big discrepancy there, and we had opportunities. We had opportunities to make some plays and we just did not do it.”
On not being able to take care of the win to keep playoff hopes alive, given other results today wen the Browns’ way:
“Listen, we knew there was a great opportunity there for that to happen. We had to go out and play well, and we did in spurts. We just did not play good enough the whole time. Baltimore is good football team. I do not know how many in a row that is now that they have won – 11 in a row – so they are a good football team. We just did not make enough plays to win the game.”
On what changed defensively after slowing the Ravens offense in the first half:
“They hit a couple of big plays that got chunks of yardage. The one drive was two plays. It can’t happen.”
On DT Sheldon Richardson’s penalty at the end of the play:
“When an official tells him to get back in the huddle, he needs to get back in the huddle. It is just that simple. That is all I have, and they threw the flag on it, but he needs to do what the official asks him to do.”
On if he took Richardson out of the game because of the penalty:
“I did.”
On why DE Chad Thomas was upset and yelling at the Ravens sideline:
“Yeah, you would have to ask them why they are upset. Undoubtedly, something happened. The same with Sheldon, something happened. At the core of everything, if the official tells you to leave, you have to leave or you leave the door open for them to throw the flag.”
On the TVs showing a heated exchange between him and WR Odell Beckham Jr.:
“I think it was something dealing with one of their guys. It was not the call or anything like that. I do not think there is a big deal there He is voicing frustration on how they are treating him.”
On if Beckham had an altercation with the Ravens:
“Yeah, something like that. You would have to ask him that. I do not know.”
On how disappointing it was to see fans leaving in the fourth quarter disappointed:
“Definitely. It would be disappointing on the road. It is disappointing for me to lose period. They make that decision, whether it is there or not, and I can’t control that. Would they have come back in if we would have done something at the end, I do not know? We had a chance to cut it to seven, and we did not do it. I do not know. Our guys were doing all they could to get back into the game, and I think we did get back into the game. We could have cut it by seven. We did not make the play to do that and then could not get off the field on third down on the last drive.”
On if he considered running on third down near the end of the first half:
“Yeah, definitely. I called one I thought that we could have potential to run after catch, and it got knocked down. If I had to do it over again, I would not do it, but I do not have it to do over again because of the result. You can’t always coach off results. I am trying to move the ball.”
On if the Ravens offense’s production contributed to why the Browns looked to get points late in the first half rather than run out the clock:
“At the end of the day, you still have the ball with 70 yards to go with one minute and no timeouts. I do not know. It always factors in how they are offensively, relative to what we are capable of offensively always factors in.”
On RB Nick Chubb’s numbers compared to high production in most other games this year:
“I thought they were getting after it a bit up front. At the end of the day, they were covering their gaps and we were not blocking well enough upfront or we were missing holes. One of two things happens in the run game when you do not run the ball. You either can’t block them or you are missing the cuts. I thought they did a good job of getting an extra defender in there. We still want to run the ball because you want to control the ball and keep their offense off the field to a certain extent. We need to run the ball better than we did. We definitely did not do that.”
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