HC Freddie Kitchens (7.31.19)

Head Coach Freddie Kitchens:

On if today’s practice felt a bit sloppy, particularly the clock management at the end of the session:

“Yes, I thought that part of it was sloppy, but I also think it is a learning process and that is what we are trying to do is trying to get everyone better. We are trying to be a smart football team, and we are going to be a smart football team if we want to get to where we are going.”

 

On the kicking game:

“They need to keep competing. That is all I have to say about it right now. They just need to keep competing, forget about today and move on to the next day. I would like for them to move on from kick to kick, but let’s start with a day-to-day thing right now.”

 

On having a smart QB and leader in QB Baker Mayfield with the goal of wanting to be a smart football team:

“That is where it all starts and stops right there. As a team collectively – offense, defense, specials teams, everything – there are games won and lost because of one play or one decision. It usually falls on the coach and what decision, but after that ball is snapped, we need to play smart. We need to know what to do and what situation is occurring in front of us and react accordingly. This game is about the players. The coaches are not out there. The coaches can’t walk them through it every time it happens during a game. We want to develop and keep creating an environment so we can learn these things so we can be a smarter football team.”

 

On RB Dontrell Hilliard taking advantage of his additional reps with other RBs sidelined:

“Dontrell is going to continue to work. I have been pleased with Dontrell. He is not a finished product. He needs to keep working. We will see what we have at the end of all of this.”

 

On WR Derrick Willies taking reps with the first-team offense:

“Derrick brings good size and good speed. We are looking for Derrick to be a little more consistent. That is what everyone is striving to do. Move on to the next day, move on to tomorrow and be better tomorrow than he was today. I do not need him to be a lot better. I just need him to be a little bit better. If you stack days that you are a little bit better, then at the end of all of this, we will see where you are.”

 

On Willies dealing with an injury last season coming back from it:

“He was good in the rehab, his treatment and all that kind of stuff. He was really starting to get a grasp of things and how to play the game. Sometimes people like Derrick do not look so good in shorts. That is the reason why you play the game in pads. He is a bigger type of guy, and he can use his size a little better when we get in pads. He is demonstrating that a little bit. Again, he is nowhere close to what we need. We need to keep going and get better.”

 

On areas of improvement for Mayfield since last year:

“His understanding of protections is better. Of course, we are doing some of the things we talked about doing so of course, he has studied that throughout course of the summer. Just continuing to give him different looks and things like that to create an environment where it is reactionary and not planned. It is a learning process for him, too. It is continuing to put the quarterback in a situation to decipher what the situation is and then react accordingly. That is how you play the position in this league because you do not know what they are going to do. You may be planning on one thing, but they may do something totally different. You have to be able to react. It can’t be a wasted a play.”

 

On if expectations can be ‘too high’ for Mayfield as a second-year QB:

“Yeah, I do not know who is putting those [expectations on him]. Tell me his expectations for himself because those are the only ones we care about. I do not care, and I am pretty sure he does not care what other people say.”

 

On C JC Tretter finishing practice after having his ankle rolled on:

“I would not expect anything other from him than to finish. I do not know where that expectation level came from that he needed to sit out because he had a little hurt ankle. JC demonstrated last year that he can play hurt. We have to understand as a group collectively – offense, defense and special teams – the difference between being hurt and being injured. I have always heard that my whole life. We are a week into camp. You are banged up. You are coming off an off day, but we just went through five days in a row and three days in pads. I do not expect anyone to feel good, and I promise they are not going to feel good at the end of this training camp. I need to see somebody build and bring it through and be the best they can be, even though they may be a little nicked up. I knew JC would do it. He did it all of last year. It was good to see because people tend to follow. They see somebody do that, and people tend to follow. We need guys like that.”

 

On Browns players being wired to battle through being hurt during training camp as they would during the regular season:

“I hope not. I do not want people wired any other way. I want to see what we are going to get in the season. I want to see on the field. We have not done anything. What season? Last year? When we were 7-8-1. Hell, what is that? That is barely just enough to talk about it for the next year. That is what they is.”

 

On what WR Antonio Callaway needs to show in practice:

“He needs to keep getting better. He needs to keep deciphering the coverages and his reads accordingly, and he needs to be consistent catching the ball and running routes, and he will get to where he is wanting to go.”

 

On if Callaway is having to earn his way up the depth chart:

“I think everybody understands who our starting receivers are, OK? Everybody else is competing and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. We do not have one depth chart in our room anywhere. I do not care who is in there. I just want them competing. I do not care if you have three wide receivers Baker has never thrown to or (WRs) Jarvis (Landry), Odell (Beckham Jr.) and Hig (Rashard Higgins) and Callaway. I do not care. I just want to see what they can do. I want to see what the quarterback can do. I want to see what the line can do. I want everybody competing. I do not want to worry about depth chart. Let me tell you something, they are not only competing against the guys on this field. They are competing against guys all around the league. Do not mistake that for our depth chart. We do not have a depth chart right now.”

 

On QB Garrett Gilbert getting reps with the second offensive line during one practice period:

“Just we were not going to run any threes, and I wanted to get the other guys some work. Simply that.”

 

On the importance of maintaining one-on-one coaching as the head coach:

“I think it is critical. Listen, everybody throughout the years would tell you I am not going to hold anything back. I think these guys are starting to realize that. The individual groups that I have coached in the past – the quarterbacks, the tight ends and the two years that I coached running backs – they know that. If you coach them like that, you have to make sure that they know that you care about them. (TE) David (Njoku) knows that, and it not for show. Sometimes people just need to feel loved. If I can show David something on a particular route, I used to coach tight ends for eight years. (Tight ends coach) John Lilly is doing a great job, but some of it is just what I envision. If I can give him a better understanding of what I am envisioning, I think that is advantageous to us.”

 

On CB Greedy Williams’ progress:

“Greedy is competing. He is coming along good. We are continuing to roll those guys and rotate them in, and we will see who comes out at the end.”

 

On Williams’ plays tackling RB Nick Chubb and not touching WR Rashard Higgins down when on the ground:

“I thought one was good and one of them was bad.”

 

On if situations like the Higgins play are to be expected at times from rookies:

“Yeah, these guys have been playing football their whole life and they never had to touch somebody once he is on the ground. It is just a learning process. Everybody is learning. There is a lot of learning going on right now, which it should be because we are doing a lot of teaching.”

 

On if Williams was aware and was ‘just lazy’ to not touch Higgins down:

“I would hope that is not the reason. I do not think that would be the reason.”

 

On if he was encouraged by Williams tackle on Chubb:

“Definitely. Personally, I do not have a doubt that Greedy is going to tackle. Our corners have to tackle. A lot of times, people want to run on corners in the run game. I hope they do because our corners are going to tackle. Our corners are going to know how to tackle.”

 

On the time management play at the end of practice and expectations for it:

“We were trying to work a situation, and the ball got spotted in the wrong place. It should have ended up in the end zone with the throw. We have to correct that situation and do it again. That was not on those guys. It was on our ball spotter.”

 

On if he met any Cleveland Cavalier players today after practice:

“I think they walked off before I got over there. It was good having them out. We are Cleveland fans.”

 

On DT Larry Ogunjobi’s status, given it seemed he didn’t take many team reps toward the end of practice:

“More of it was preventive. He started feeling a little something, and we just wanted to take care of him.”

 

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