WR Odell Beckham Jr., G Joel Bitonio, T Chris Hubbard, DE Myles Garrett, WR Jarvis Landry, DE Devaroe Lawrence, G Justin McCray and LB Joe Schobert (9.8.19)
BROWNS PLAYERS
WR Odell Beckham Jr.:
On the offense losing rhythm throughout the game:
“We killed ourselves with penalties. Not to say that they did not do a good job, but we beat ourselves a lot today.”
On the numerous penalties committed by the Browns:
“To be honest, I do not know how many penalties there were. I remember looking up at one point and seeing how many there were. You are not going to win many games starting off drives with 1st-and-20s to go and 1st-and-30s to go or getting a big play to see it called back. We need to be more disciplined. It is the first game so whether we lost by one point or 40 points, it still says an L on the records. It is nothing to panic about. Adversity has to come at some point in the season so why not right now?”
On the offensive pass interference call:
“It definitely was not pass interference. I was running down the field and there was contact 15 yards down the field while we are both competing for the ball. Ultimately, it is not my job to make the calls. It is my job to make the plays.”
On if the preseason hype affected the Browns:
“No disrespect, but we do not really listen to the media. It is not like when we lineup, we are thinking about what this reporter said or we have to go out and do that. This is still football so there is really no hype or expectations. There is a confidence within this group, and that is just what this team has. There are no expectations to really listen to.”
On QB Baker Mayfield leadership during the game:
“Baker was good. From Baker this year, you will see a lot of growth and maturity. He is the captain of this team now and he is going to lead us. We have other guys who need to step up and lead as well. He never got down, he never got out of his self and he just stuck to the plan and tried to make plays when he could.”
On shaking today’s game off and moving onto the New York Jets:
“You need to focus on the Jets. They say to give yourself a 24-hour rule. You have to let this one go. You can’t get it back or change the outcome so you just have to let it go.”
G Joel Bitonio:
On if the Browns were overconfident:
“I think that is a player-by-player question. For me, I think we were focused on Tennessee. I knew that I had to go against one of the best defensive tackles in the league in (Titans DT) Jurrell Casey. I was ready to roll. They did a good job. They had a good pass rush. They beat us up pretty good.”
On the challenge moving players around the offensive line:
“To lose two linemen and then you have to move guys around, we have had (G Justin) McCray here for one week so that is pretty impressive that he went in and played. (T Chris Hubbard) Hubb has not played on the left side in like three years. All of that stuff is tough. We put ourselves in bad positions all day, the penalties. It is hard enough to get 10 yards, but if you have to get 15, 20, 25, 30 yards on plays, that is not how you are going to win the game.”
T Chris Hubbard:
On the shuffling of the offensive line today:
“It was one of those things like, who is comfortable with what. Anything to get the job done to help the team. That’s what we are going to do. Next man up on each side of the ball.”
On the last time he played the LT position:
“It’s been quite some time. I played it when I was in Pittsburgh. It was fun to be back on that side. Just to be over there and help out. If we had won that game, it would have been awesome.”
On if he agreed with the number of holding penalties:
“I’m going to just leave it up to the referees. We are here to block, do our job and open the lanes for (RB) Nick Chubb or whoever is back there. The refs are going to do their job, too. We’re just going to play football and they are here to make calls.”
On handling injuries on the offensive line:
“Things are going to happen and occur when people get hurt. You have to manage it, and coach did a great job. He asked what was comfortable for me and we kept the ball rolling.”
DE Myles Garrett:
On the game:
“We couldn’t’ stop the momentum. The lack of discipline we had coupled by them [Tennessee] gaining traction, we just beat ourselves.”
On why the team had a lack of discipline:
“I’ll have to look at it on film. I couldn’t tell you right now.”
On his 15-yard penalty:
“I just have to keep my composure. That’s on me.”
On what the team has to do to keep their composure moving forward:
“Not do dumb stuff like that. I can’t tell you that there is a recipe. We just need to walk away. We didn’t do that, and it help beat us.”
On if the lack of discipline came from high emotions due to the season opener:
“It was just a gritty game. The emotion and physicality, we can’t let that happen.”
On if there are any positives to take away from this game:
“You can always learn from a loss. You learn more from a loss than you do a win.”
WR Jarvis Landry:
On the offense stalling after the first touchdown drive:
“There were a lot of self-inflicted things that hurt us. Ultimately, it comes down to us. It was not so much about what they did.”
On battling throughout the game:
“We always felt like we were in it for the entire game and that momentum was on our side. We just could not get close enough to get into the end zone.”
On the offseason hype for the team:
“We do not care about anything that is going on outside of our building. This is not something that is going to define us. It is something that at some point was going to happen and now that it has happened, we have to find a way to be critical when we watch film, correct our mistakes and get ready for next game.”
On Head Coach Freddie Kitchens postgame talk with the team:
“He mentioned that a lot of things were self-inflicted. We had over 200 yards in penalties and that can hurt the team.”
DE Devaroe Lawrence:
On the lack of discipline and the number of penalties in the game:
“Unacceptable. Can’t beat ourselves. We can’t have it. We have to be better. We work too hard for it.”
On how to make adjustments next week:
“Go in tomorrow and make the corrections. Don’t wear your feelings on your sleeve. Take the corrections and be better the next time out. We have to be better.”
On the number of personal foul penalties and emotions running high:
“That was obvious. There were too many flags on the field. Too much laundry. It’s going to bother you and get to you. You have to have composure. We can’t have the penalties.”
On pinpointing the reason for the penalties and if energy from the season opener led to it:
“You are always going to be hyped. It’s the first game of the year. It isn’t’ the preseason anymore. You are excited. Emotions are running high, but it still isn’t an excuse for penalties. There was too much laundry on the field.”
G Justin McCray:
On his experience at RT:
“My first year in Green Bay, I played a couple of games at right tackle. I want to say it was five or six games so I have some experience there.”
On switching over to RT today:
“There is not too much that is different for me between the positions. Your feet are set in your stance and you just have to adjust depending on the play and the defender.”
On the injuries along the offensive line:
“You need to have the mindset of next man up. If you have pads on, you have to be prepared to play. Everyone has to be prepared to be ready to play.”
On the pressure of injuries along the offensive line:
“It is a little bit of a shake-up at first, but you get your breath back quickly. It is just football at the end of the day.”
LB Joe Schobert:
On the mood after a game like today and how quickly the will Browns move on:
“Obviously it is not good. You want to come into the season, you want to start the season off hot and win the game. We felt like we could have come into this game and won it, but the Titans took advantage of our miscues and were able to put it away at the end there. (Head) Coach (Freddie) Kitchens said it best, ‘When adversity hits, you want to run towards your teammates, not away from them.’ I think that everybody in the locker room has that feeling. We just have to get back to work next week and put this one behind us.”
On how tough it was to give up a TD after the offense went down and scored:
“They caught us in a bad call and a good call for them. So that is kind of a back breaker. You do not want to give up that one. But they schemed it up well. It took the air out of the whole stadium because we scored and got right back in it within one score. But then that happened and I think the fans, I think the air kind of got taken out of the stadium obviously because you do not want to give up a big play like that any time in the game, especially then.”
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