LG Joel Bitonio (10.19.23)
You ready to make one consecutive start in a row?
“Yeah, we’re working on it. I got to go to practice yesterday, move around a little bit. So we’re trying to get back on track. You know, Kevin (Stefanski) joked with me, if I got 102 straight more starts. I don’t know if I have that in me, but hopefully, get back out there and try and help the team a little bit.”
How close were you last week, Joel?
“I wanted to, bad. I was probably being a little selfish, honestly. Not just for the streak, but the competitor in me wanted to be on the field because I feel like I can help the team when I’m out there. But we all decided that it was probably best to not play on 13 days post-surgery for the remainder of the season, for the twelve other games we have. But it was a tough decision. I was trying to get back there, but it wasn’t quite ready. It wasn’t quite ready. So, it was the right decision to wait a little bit longer.”
Did you hear from Joe Thomas? Did he pop the champagne?
“No. I did talk to Joe and Mitch (Schwartz) actually a few guys, JC (Tretter), guys that I played with or been a part of it and honestly, just for advice on the whole situation. But no, he was very helpful in it, but I don’t think he was popping champagne. But he did say he was thinking about me, so it was nice.”
So what happened? Because you looked fine after the game, you talked after the game, what kind of happened?
“Yeah, so I was kind of dealing with it from earlier in the year. I want to say Pittsburgh maybe. I just had some knee issues and it wasn’t getting better. So I was kind of dealing with that for two and a half games and it was our chance to go look and see what was wrong and it was a good thing we did. I already feel a lot better. There’s some damage in there that they could fix with the scope and it turned out to be good. So, it wasn’t one instance in the game that happened, but it was kind of over time through the first kind of quarter of the season, but it was kind of our one time in the season where I didn’t have to miss too much time. So, we decided to make a move and get it fixed.”
What did you do during that? I mean during those three hours on Sunday?
“Oh, during the game? Yeah, I was on the sideline. It was weird. Last time I sat was the Pittsburgh playoff game, I was at home for that, for COVID. But this one was different, being on the sideline. But I was super proud of Mike (Dunn). I mean, he obviously got banged up, but he went out there and fought and played well and the O line really stepped up, but it’s different. I had a little bit more [of a] fan mentality. I could watch the defense a little bit more when you’re on the side because you’re not looking at the next play, you’re going to run on offense and stuff and I got to listen to Coach (Kevin) Stefanski call some plays in the headset. I had one of those in so it was kind of a different perspective. But I mean it was awesome that they won the game and it was just a little tap like, all right, we got the win anyway, so it was a good decision.”
So did you call the direct snap to Harrison Bryant?
“No. That was a good one though. Harry’s asking for a little bit more money now. He thinks he’s a quarterback so we’ll see what happens with that.”
Speaking of quarterbacks, were told by a player that (Deshaun) Watson may practice today. That unknowing, the uncertainty. This guy’s playing this day, not practicing, it’s not healthy, is it?
“The team is pretty focused and Coach (Kevin) Stefanski has done a good job of having the focus with the guys that we have out there. You know me included when I was out, Dunn was ultra-focused. P.J. (Walker) and DTR (Dorian Thompson-Robinson) have been ultra-focused when they’re out there and we just want Deshaun at full health and to make sure he’s comfortable and ready to play. We don’t have the answer of when that’s going to be, and I don’t know if he has the answer, but he’s trying to work through it and that’s the NFL. There are injuries, there’s things that happen like that and as a player you really try not to ride the roller coaster and there’s a lot of noise and things like that. But as us, we have to go out there and compete and fight and the guys that are going to be out there are going to go hard. They showed it this weekend. P.J., Michael Dunn all stepped up and played well enough for us to win. But it’s one of those things where if he’s out there with us in practice we get excited for him. We’re ready to go but we know P.J. and DTR are ready to take reps too if he’s not.”
Grover (Stewart) is not playing for them. How does that impact their defensive line?
“Yeah, he’s a really good player. I think it’s a run-stopping and pass-rushing group. You know Grover is one of the better run-stopping nose guards in the league. They still have Defoe (DeForest Buckner) out there who’s a great player in both phases of the game. They have some young guys that I’m sure they’re going to move up and have to play some more minutes at the nose guard for him. But yeah, he’s dynamic in the run-stopping and he’s a penetrator kind of similar to our defense. They penetrate, they get up the field and he does a really good job of that. So it’ll be interesting to see who kind of takes those snaps away. But they still have a really talented front and their linebackers fly around and make plays, too.”
Now that they won the game on Sunday, can you say are you sad that the streak is over, the snap and the game streak?
“For me, it was a tough decision because I knew my knee was hurting and I knew I wasn’t at 100%, but I felt like I wanted to be out there for the guys. So it was a hard decision for me to make anyway with the surgery. And it’s almost, in a weird way, kind of a relief, you know what I mean, that you’re not worried about your helmet snapping off or your shoelace breaking or anything like that. If we’re winning by 30 points and coach wants to take me out, he’s like, I’m like, yeah, I can go out now. You know what I mean? We’re winning this game. But no, I think it’s a testament to the teammates I’ve had, the coaches I’ve had, and just the mentors of Joe (Thomas) and Mitch (Stewart) and (John) Greco and (Alex) Mack. Those guys fought hard, and it was something, you know, JC (Tretter) he did it for a long time, too. I just wanted to be out there with the guys, but for me, it was one game, and we got the win, and the team’s always more important.”
Joel, you kind of touched on it there, but that just kind of speaks to the mentality that’s been developed on the offensive line over years and years. Going back to Joe (Thomas) now. And how much of a responsibility do you feel to kind of foster that with these younger guys?
“You know, when I first got in the league, I thought it was just, like, common practice, because, like, Joe Thomas had never missed a snap, Alex Mack had never missed snap, and Mitch (Schwartz) had never missed a snap. So I was like, I guess you don’t miss snaps, you know what I mean? And so I came in, and I didn’t miss a snap for my first year, and I was like, all right, this is easy. And then I got hurt in my second year, and that went down the drain. But it was definitely fostered off of this toughness, and guys were playing through injuries, and Mack had the appendix thing, and he played through and crazy things, you know what I mean? And it was just a pride thing that you wanted to be out there for your guys. And so yeah, I hope we’re still carrying that on, but it was definitely from those guys that kind of did it then. JC, when he got here, me and him kind of had like a, we played every snap together for five years, four years. So that was something that we didn’t want to let each other down, and so it’s been part of the group, and when you’re healthy you know, or you can fight through, we try and be out there.”
Since you had your assistant coach’s hat on last week and could focus on the defense a little bit. What were your impressions of the Browns’ defense?
“Oh, it’s impressive the way they fly around. I think we saw some of it in training camp. We weren’t sure until you got on the field, but we’re like big plays. DB’s are playing well. They’re going to pressure up front. I was excited to see the O lineman, excited to see Myles (Garrett) versus Trent (Williams) a little bit and they finally got some real one-on-one in the last drive of the game. Two obviously great players in this game, but no, they do a great job and honestly, we put them in some tough positions on offense or I think the stats would be even better. We’ve turned the ball over a little bit too much and we’ve given some short fields, but they’re playing lights out right now and hopefully, we can complement them a little bit more.”
I was going to ask you that. Amari (Cooper) was saying it does have a galvanizing effect. Do you feel that now that this defense is really pulling this team together?
“Yeah, they’re doing a great job. It’s nice when you score 19 points and we gave them a touchdown too, but score 19 points and win a game. We’ve seen that in a few games this year where the teams have scored three points and I mean, even the Steelers game, we gave them two touchdowns. But they’re playing lights out and it’s positive. We want to do our part and really help so we can have two great phases along with special teams.”
The two games after Nick (Chubb) got hurt, there were a lot of questions about the running game. How good was it to watch that running game really get going against a good defense like San Francisco? And now that you’re coming back, how excited are you to get those guys going?
“Yeah, no, it was a great week. I think guys stepped up. We moved Jed (Wills) around a little bit. He was pulling out there, making some big blocks for us. Poe (Ethan Pocic) was playing great. Wyatt (Teller), I mean, all of them really stepped up and I think (Jerome) Ford and Kareem (Hunt) had their best game since Nick’s gone down and I think it’s just been an improvement and hopefully we keep stacking it. But it was impressive. I was so pumped to see it. And when you hit a good run, I just feel like that gives you a little bit of momentum and can really get the ball moving for you guys.”
Historically, you guys haven’t been a good road team and I realize this is a completely different year. You’ve played a pretty big chunk of your home schedule already and you got a ton of road games coming up here. So what’s going to be the key for you guys to become road warriors and win away from home?
“Yeah, we’ve stressed it. I mean, for the offense, it’s really about road operation. You have silent counts, you have communication you have the fans against you. And right now we’re just focused on ourselves and trying to do that. But coach has stressed it. We want to be road warriors. We want to stack wins. We want to really develop that. We don’t want to kind of go on this roller coaster of the season. So, it’s a big week for us. But I think the guys are focused. In yesterday’s practice, I think everybody was high energy and ready to try and stack a win.”
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