Select Browns Players (12.15.24)
G Joel Bitonio
Let’s just start with Nick Chubb, Kevin said he broke his foot. What’s your thoughts on Nick’s injury?
“It’s tough. He’s put in the work. Anytime your teammates get injured it’s unfortunate. Nick’s my guy. I’m thinking about him. You know Nick. He’ll come back and he’ll put it behind him, and he’ll be the teammate everybody knows he is.”
Jerry Jeudy said that one of the reasons this team is where it is is because of the pre-snap penalties that keep happening over and over again. Why do they continue to happen week after week?
“Lack of mental awareness. It’s getting lined up, it’s getting too deep in the backfield, illegal shifts, false starts, all those things are mental. You get the play call, you get the formation, you get the cadence. Obviously we haven’t been good enough in those situations.”
[Nick Chubb] is in a similar situation from a business standpoint. He doesn’t have a contract for next season. What are your thoughts about Nick Chubb and wanting to see him with the Browns?
“If Nick Chubb wants to be a Brown, he’ll be a Brown next year. That’s all I got for that. He’s earned that, and they’ll figure something out.”
Does the lack of run plays bother you, seeing what Jerome [Ford] did at the end of that game with some big runs he pulled off?
“I just block what they call. If we have to pass the ball 60 times like we did in Denver to try and win a game, that’s part of it. If you run the ball and you only get one yard or two yards, I get why they want to pass the ball. I do think the run game does take some time. Sometimes it’s two yards, three yards, four yards, 15, 60. And that’s how you get an average of four yards per carry. Since Coach (Kevin) Stefanski has been here it’s been, ‘if you take out the five runs over ten yards they only averaged 3.8 yards per carry.’ Well that’s the NFL. That’s how averages work. It’s part of it. Obviously you can’t run the ball every play. But whatever they call, we try to go and execute.”
What separates the teams that do get penalties from the ones that don’t?
“Just comes down to execution. You can talk about that all you want, you go out there, you get the snap count, you get the formation, you have to know where you line up at. All those things are the mental part of the game, and it comes to executing”
LB Jordan Hicks
Getting pressure on Patrick Mahomes and getting him down are two, totally different things. How was he able to just allude the pressure?
“That’s just what he does. What you try to do, the moment he escapes is plaster in coverage. I thought we did a good job of that and forcing him to either throw the ball away, dirt it or just different things. The rush plan was to try and keep him in the pocket. Overall, I think we did a good job of it.
WR Jerry Jeudy
I know it’s the ultimate team game and I know you’d like to have the win, but what does it mean to you to go over 1,000 yards for the first time in your career?
“Right now, it doesn’t mean anything. LIke I said, the win is the most important thing and we just have to find a way to finish. That is the most important thing.”
Did you hear Nick Chubb broke his foot and will be out the rest of the year? What are your thoughts on that?
“Damn, that sucks. Knowing everything Chubb has been through, all the adversity he faced. I know it’s tough, but knowing Chubb and knowing the type of person he is, he is not going to let that phase him. He will bounce back and be stronger than he ever was.”
What will this work week look for you, as the Browns might decide between two quarterbacks. Does that change anything for you?
“No, I’m just going to keep doing my job. Keep doing what I’m supposed to do.”
What is the most frustrating part as to why this offense has sputtered?
“The most frustrating part is the self-inflicted wounds. The pre-snap penalties…we had a lot of penalties on offense and we can’t play football like that. We can’t score points like that. We need to figure out a way to eliminate that, and I feel like we’ll be a way better football team than we are.”
G Wyatt Teller
I know you’ve been really supportive of Jameis (Winston), how does he handle another day like this and then getting benched in the fourth quarter?
“It sucks. But I’ve been there. I was benched in the first quarter of my second year, and ultimately became the week one starter. It sucks, but I have faith in him.”
I don’t know if you’ve been asked about Nick Chubb breaking his foot yet. Can you just talk about that?
“I didn’t know that. That sucks”
After everything that he’s been through, and fighting so hard to come back, to see him walking out of here on crutches, how disconcerting and upsetting is that?
“It’s bad. It’s really bad. Injuries are a part of the game, it’s all around us, you just pray it’s not your brother. I’ve said that before, but it really sucks when it’s a guy like Nick. Somebody that works so hard, cares so much about this game, and this community and this city. It sucks”
QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson
What was the conversation when they called you in to take the field?
“I was supposed to get in a few drives earlier. Some of the circumstances on some of the drives, we couldn’t get that done. As the game was getting closer to the end, they decided to make a switch.”
Did they give you any indication on whether or not you’d be the starter going into next week?
“No, sir.”
So the plan was for you to get in regardless?
“I have a package of plays. So it’s always the plan to at least get me in a few times here and there.”
Why have interceptions been a problem for this offense all season?
“Just gotta go to work and look at our decisions and our decision making. And just be more mindful of when we’re out there executing the plays”
Kevin [Stefanski] said that Nick Chubb broke his foot. What’s your reaction to that?
“I tried to ask a couple guys what happened. This is my first time hearing that. It’s heartbreaking. Another season ending injury for him. I can only imagine how he’s feeling. He’s in my prayers.”
S Juan Thornhill
Do you feel like you played well defensively to win today?
“Oh yeah, definitely. If you watch the Kansas City Chiefs, they’ve been putting up points. Some teams can’t stop Patrick Mahomes, but if you look at the stats and take a step back and look at what he threw for, he didn’t dice us up like that. They didn’t run it down our throat either, our defense played pretty well and I’m happy about that.”
DT Dalvin Tomlinson
Outside of one drive, you didn’t really let the Chiefs do much to get the big lead…
“Yeah, it’s always tough to lose a game like that when you’re giving yards back.”
You guys did a great job getting pressure on Patrick Mahomes, but getting pressure and getting him down are two totally different things.
“For sure, he had some good pocket presence. We were collapsing the pocket like crazy and he was getting the ball out of there. Just have to be a half second quicker.”
How were you guys so successful limiting the Chiefs to just seven third down conversions, when they’ve been so successful all year with that?
“Just following the game plan. Coach (Jim) Schwartz drew up a good game plan, contained them on the inside and we did a pretty good job, we just didn’t execute enough.”
When you see Myles Garrett go down, what was the thought in the moment?
“Whenever you see a teammate or any player down, you hope for the best and hope it’s not too severe. You could tell he was hurting at the time, but Myles fought through it and came back. You have to appreciate a teammate like that who will fight through pain.”