LG Joel Bitonio (7.25.23)
What does this being at camp ten mean to you?
“It’s a pretty cool milestone. After my rookie year, I was like, alright, I played in the league. I want to take it year by year, but ten years would be pretty special to get in. And we’re at year ten, so that’s pretty cool. Not too many people play 10 years, so it’s really a combination of luck and skill and having the opportunity. But it’s a little different, you know what I mean? You go into year ten, you’re getting a little bit older, but I love it. I love it out here and ready to go.”
Obviously you’re going to Pro Bowl as you’re an All-Pro. Do you feel like you’re still playing as well as you ever have?
“Yeah, I felt the last couple years have been – I try and get better every year you know? I think I’ve improved. I think throughout my college career, it took me time to develop. I was improving there. I got to the NFL, I was injured early in my career, so there were a couple of years there where it was a little stagnant. But I think since then, with Coach (BIll) Callahan, Coach (Kevin) Stefanski, AVP (Alex Van Pelt), the whole offensive staff, really put me in a very strong place to do the things I like to do. And it’s been really good. I felt good the last two, three years playing on a very high level.”
Being this long into your career, normally camp is in your backyard, at the facilities. How different is it being able to come down here? How much does it at least help change things up?
“It’s definitely a change-up. I think with the Hall of Fame stuff coming in a little early, coming out here for a week or eight days, or eight practices, however long it was. I think it’s a real positive for us. We do miss the fans. They’re not out here and stuff with us, but we’ll see them in a couple of weeks. But just having the team here, there’s really not much else to do. We’re here from seven to seven every day, doing football, hanging out with each other, laughing, joking. It’s a good place for us, and I think the guys have the right mentality, and they’re coming out to work, and I think the staff and the training staff is really ramping us into it. It’s not going too fast or too hard, just to ease us into this training camp.”
Are you ready for what amenities you’re going to take advantage of tomorrow?
“No, I think O-line’s going to dinner tonight, so we’re going to do a little steakhouse tonight, so we have a day to digest that. Then tomorrow I’ll probably sleep in. We might try and go to a movie, some of us, so we’ll see. That’s not here, but somewhere I saw an escape room. They have an escape room, a bunker escape room that might be fun. I wanted to golf, I’m not going to lie. But then I was like, I’m going to be too tired, so I’ll leave those at home. Once the season starts, the golf clubs go away.”
No skeet shooting?
“No, I’ve shot a couple of times, but I’m not. I’ll leave that to Wyatt (Teller) and the boys. They can handle the skeet shooting.”
White water rafting?
“I would love to do that, but not in training camp. All these things are fun things. I might have to come back in the offseason.”
Next week, are they going to allow you to party with Joe (Thomas) for a couple of days?
“I don’t know if it’s party? I can attend, though. We’ll see how practice goes from there and stuff like that. But I am going to go see his ceremony, me and my wife. There are so many great people that we’re going to be able to see along with Joe and Annie (Thomas) and their family. Definitely make an appearance at the after party and say congrats. But we’re kind of in the heat of it, since he’s retired, I’ve been like, if I’m on the Browns, it’s going to be a little bit different this year. I’ll have to nudge him a little bit and say thanks for making us come a week early.”
How excited he is, how much are you looking forward to seeing that moment and what that means to you as a teammate of his?
“Yeah, it’s special. He’s a guy that’s one of the best. One of the best to ever play the game and to play next to him as a young player in this league and to see him – I think he only had one kid when I got in the league, and now he has four and he’s going to the Hall of Fame and all those things. It’s just pretty surreal. You don’t have the opportunity to play with that many Hall of Fame guys. So to have that ability is pretty special for him and I’m very happy for him and his family.”
It’s only the first day you guys did anything at a higher speed. And that red zone drill, it looked like the defense was very successful. Were you impressed? How congested is it down there?
“It was seven on seven, I think. So they were going it sounded like the defense was doing well. The O-line was getting some pass sets on the other side. I think defense usually starts out a little bit ahead of offense, getting used to each other. Coach (Jim) Schwartz has a great scheme, I think the players are excited to play for him. I know Coach Stefanski and Deshaun (Watson) and all those guys are going to come back and get their shots in too.”
Joel, have you found the Greenbrier to be haunted? Also, I understand that maybe the floral patterns aren’t necessarily exactly what you would have picked out for yourself?
“So it’s definitely an older property. You pull up and it’s beautiful out here, by the way. I talked about West Virginia. It’s very beautiful. The floor patterns are a little, know, older, but they do a good job. Like, when I see the floor patterns, I think great, great grandma’s house. You know what I mean? Like old. You know, it’s clean here, it’s everything. Wyatt said his door keeps open in the middle of the night, but we’ll see what that means. I’ve had no issues so far. Everybody’s been very nice, but we are getting used to the floor. I got a lot of green and pink in my room, so it’s a little bit different. My kids like the chairs. I FaceTime them and they’re like, ‘Can we see the green chairs again?’ So maybe we’ll have to get those for our house.”
You have a look around the corner and see a couple of creepy girls?
“I mean, there’s like statues and weird things. I’m not next to other players. I don’t know where my room is, but when I walk back into the building, I have to kind of go through this maze to get back to my room. Last night I swear I was lost. I was like, I’m not exactly sure which way I go and I just kept walking. I ran to my room eventually, but it’s definitely a maze in there.”
I got another Joe question for you. You mentioned Annie, you mentioned how he has four kids. What do you think of him having his family to present him?
“I think it’s awesome. You play eleven years in the league. He met Annie in college and obviously got married early in his career, maybe after college. They go through it with you – like the training camps, the practices, the seasons, the good games, the bad games. They’re the people that you talk to and go through it. They make sacrifices obviously in the offseason and stuff. It’s worth it for us, but there’s a lot of sacrifice they make. It’s a team effort. I try and tell my wife all the time how much I appreciate her work, especially like this week, she’s at home with the kids and doing that thing. It’s always a family affair and his family is one of the best. So I think it’s very cool that they’re honoring him that way.”
You’ve talked a lot since Deshaun’s gotten here about the uniqueness of blocking for him and the stress they can put on offensive lineman. I know you’re still early in it, but how much do you feel like you’re slowly coming to get a handle on it, at least a little bit?
“Yeah, we’re understanding him a lot better. How he drops, how he extends a play to try and make a better play, how we’re going to move the pocket for him a little bit. All those things are coming out I think the more we practice. It’s been a little early in camp, a lot more jog through tempos. Today we finally got some full speed stuff, but we’re getting used to it and I think he’s feeling more comfortable with us and talking to guys and asking guys, ‘Hey, on this play, like, do this for us or change it around.’ So he’s finding his voice as well. I think it’s just a gelling out period, but we’re definitely getting more comfortable.”
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