HC Freddie Kitchens (7.28.19)
Head Coach Freddie Kitchens:
On if the scuffle was why Browns players ran gassers or if it was due to the entire practice:
“No, definitely we just do not practice penalties. Like I told you guys the other day, there are consequences. If you do something wrong in life, there are consequences. If we do something wrong on the field, there are consequences because we do not practice penalties. That is it.”
On the entire team facing consequences for a few players’ actions:
“They are a team. Team means together. To me, it means together. That is the way we approach things.”
On if he talked to DE Chad Thomas about giving the finger to a fan a today’s practice:
“If I have talked to him about it, that is going to stay between us. Of course, Chad Thomas as you guys see, he is very emotional, a passionate guy. I want those guys to play with passion, but he is also a young guy so he has to understand and develop a sense of when to move on. I think he will learn. That is a great learning experience for Chad. Chad is going to be a good football player. He is doing well, but he is a young guy, and our young guys we need to keep bringing along and showing them the way.”
On if he will have Thomas apologize in a public way:
“Everything we do will be between us.”
On if a public apology should be stated because today’s practice was public:
“If he does, you will know that we have talked about it. Anything he does, we are going to talk about it and you guys are not going to know what we talk about. I told you guys back before that discussions that I have with the players that play for me will never be advertised in the public. You know what? I made a statement on it, and that is what it is. I do not know what else to say.”
On former Browns Vice President of Player Personnel and Eagles Vice President of Football Operations Andrew Berry saying he was confident that Thomas would be part of the Browns rotation last year and Thomas not playing much last season:
“I do not know about last year. I am not referring anything to last year. I do not care about last year anymore. This year, Chad has shown us is he is willing to play with passion, he is willing to play with technique and he is willing to play with a high motor. Those are all things that we like.”
On if the Browns offense performed better today:
“In certain areas they did, but again, this is just one day. I do think they got a little bit better today in certain areas, and they needed to. Our defense needs to and our special teams needs to. All of them need to. It is just one day. That is the way I am approaching it. We are trying to stay in the moment around here with this organization. We are not trying to look forward. We are trying stay with what we did today. That is what we did today. Yesterday does not affect today. Last year is not going to affect this year. Two years ago is not going to be affected any by this year. We need to all get that in our minds that it does not matter what the Browns have been the last year, three years ago, 10 years ago or 40 years ago. That does not affect today. That is the approach we are going to have.”
On if the defense is generally ahead of the offense during the first few days of training camp:
“You have been reading too many books (laughter). I agree with you [that it is a common thought], but I have never understood that. You will probably hear things from time to time that I am telling you my opinion on it, and my opinion is I never understood that. The defense’s job is to execute. The offense’s job is to execute. When we kick field goals, we are supposed to execute. When we block for punts, we are supposed to block for punts so we are supposed to execute. I never bought into that theory, but a lot of people do have that theory. I am just not one of them.”
On if the Browns offense or defense is ahead after Day 4:
“I do not know. We are not keeping score. We are trying to play the next play. You would have to tell me the one particular play and I would tell you who won it. We are not keeping score. We are just trying to get better. We are trying to make each other better. (TE) Pharaoh Brown and Chad (Thomas) were making each other better. Now, we have to learn when we are not going to hurt the team. That is it in response to everything else.”
On what DT Sheldon Richardson brings to the team:
“He brings leadership. He brings dependability, accountability and reliability, which are the most important abilities for me. He exudes that.”
On how good Richardson is from watching him in practice:
“I think he is a very good player, but I also think that he is trying to get better and he is going to stay in the moment. I have total trust that he is going to do that.”
On concern K Austin Seibert has missed kicks in practice:
“You are getting too far ahead. Hopefully, he comes out tomorrow and does better. He is trying to get better, too.”
On if there is anything the staff needs to say to Seibert to help him improve:
“Pat him on the butt and ‘get the next one’.”
On Ks missing game-situation FG attempts in practice and message to the players:
“Listen, when you are a kicker, you better have a short memory. When you are a quarterback, you better have a short memory. When you are a defensive tackle, you better have a short memory. When you are a tight end, you better have short memory. If you are playing for us, all of them, all of the positions [need to have a short memory] because we are going to play the next play, and that is all that matters. I am not concerned about that kick. I am worried about the one tomorrow.”
On if he felt the need to set the tone with Browns players in the early days of training camp:
“No, I do not feel the need to do anything. I just felt the need to coach them the way I think they need to be coached. Our assistant coaches are going to coach them the way they think they need to be coached. That would mean we are doing for show, and we are never going to do anything for show around here. We are not going to practice penalties. I refuse to practice penalties because penalties when you get to a game, it is a penalty so it hurts your team, and we are not going to do that.”
On ability to practice avoiding penalties:
“Most penalties occur because of bad technique or you lose your emotions. One of them today was [emotion], and the other one was I don’t know what causes you to jump offside, but that is a penalty. We are not going to practice penalties. We are not going to practice personal foul penalties. We are not going to practice holding penalties. Most of those penalties occur because you have bad technique. We are getting better at technique, and that is one of the things I am talking about we need to get better every day at.”
On the size of the Browns TEs as a philosophical team approach and if he has been around a TE group that large:
“You are talking about when they get off the bus; we had a nice looking tight end group in Arizona and our group last year was not too shabby either as far as what they looked like. We do not really care about the size of them. It is not something we are looking at to determine. They have to have a certain height, weight and speed, but other than that, we are just looking for how they play between the whistles.”
On Jimmy Haslam sharing the belief he will be the head coach for a long time:
“I appreciate that sentiment, but I am just trying to do a good job today. I am just trying to finish this press conference out strong and then I am going to go to the next thing and walk out of here into an offensive meeting and then we are going to meet with our players, and then we are going to break for dinner. Then we are going to come back and try to have a good meeting. I am just trying to do a good job for the Cleveland Browns today.”
On what constitutes a strong press conference:
“I would ask Tony (Grossi) that.”
On DEs Olivier Vernon and Myles Garrett both typically playing RE in the past and now sharing the same DL:
“As an offensive guy, when you are trying to slide a protection to a certain player, you just can’t stay constant in what you are doing so it makes you change. Anytime we can make an offense change, that is advantageous for us. I think those guys definitely do that. The guys inside do that, too. I think our defensive line is going to be a strength of our team. I have said that for a while. I still believe it, but I know they need to continue to get better every day before we get to that point.”
On Vernon and Garrett embracing playing together:
“I think they are embracing it. I think they are embracing the collective thought that they can be very good on defense. Now, we have to just go do it and not talk about it. There is too much talking. We just need to do it.”
On potential concerns with the OL, given the amount of time defensive linemen have been in the backfield:
“No, it does not because we are going to continue to get better. This is our second day in pads. What I do want to continue is the competition. I want the guys in the backfield. I want us to stop them from being in the backfield. That is why I was very pleased with Chad Thomas and Pharaoh Brown because they were competing. Now, they just have to understand when enough is enough because then it effects the team.”
On if the Ks knew they were going to be kicking in game situations during this practice:
“They knew potentially they could. That was just like a drive in a game. That was a two-minute drive – to win the game.”
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