WR Odell Beckham Jr., WR Jarvis Landry, G Joel Bitonio and RB Nick Chubb (12.18.19)
WR Odell Beckham Jr.:
On reports from NFL Network that he told the Steelers to ‘come get me’:
“No, I have been talking to the (Canadian Football League) Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts, a couple Canadian league teams that I am also trying to get traded to so it has been great conversations (laughter). It is done. It is old. I am not going anywhere. I will be here. We are going to figure this thing out. It is just too special to leave. The Steelers [report], I heard that (WR) Jarvis (Landry) wanted to go to the Cardinals. All these people, it is just easy to talk about and it is cop out. It is an easy thing to do and cause a little controversy and a little friction. I feel like in my experiences in the league and going through the troubles that I did, I can now see how those stories… For me, it is never going to affect me but then it is like, does it cause a little friction between you and a teammate who does not necessarily know what it is you are thinking? It is just done. It is time to just put it to bed. I am going to be here. There is nothing more to talk about. Unless like I said, unless I go to the Argonauts or the Blue Bombers.”
On if he is going to be in Cleveland next season:
“Yeah, we are going to be here. We are going to do it again and we are going to be what we felt like we should have been, correct all the little mistakes and all the ‘if we would have did this’ games. It is just too good. I did not buy a house here to sell it. I know people have said I did not sign him to trade him before, but I did not really buy a house here to up and leave it and do renovations on a house and build a doghouse.”
On setting the record straight on reports of what he has said:
“I need the audio from what was said. You see (Lakers SF) Lebron (James) talking to somebody after the game and they are talking like this (covers mouth with shirt) and all that, and it is like ‘Is LeBron saying, oh, we should team up?’ This is a brotherhood. These are guys that you are friends with in the offseason. These are guys that you know all around the league. It is like you can’t have a conversation after the game without everyone being in your business. That is why we do this (covers mouth with shirt). We do not want you to know what we are talking about – good, bad or nothing at all. We just do not want you there trying to listen and make up things. I definitely for sure am not going to the Steelers. That will never happen for sure. I saw they were talking about returns to New York and all this other stuff. I do not know where people are getting this from – definitely not going back there either. It is what it is. I will be right here.”
On if he talks a lot to opponents when he is warming up:
“This is a brotherhood. Compete, and at the end of the game, it is good game and it is nothing but love. I do not think there are too many people in the league who really have bad blood or hate between teammates. We are part of the 1 percent club. It is a lot more respect than people can imagine.”
On what needs to be figured out to win more games:
“How to win games? I see that everyone is pointing fingers or is it this? Is it that? It is everybody. It is me included. It is every single person on this team who is at fault for why we are 6-8. I have not been able to play to the best of my ability. We have not put the games together to come out with wins. It is on everybody. There is no one specific person. There is no nothing. We just have to do better.”
On if staying in Cleveland has always been his mindset:
“I bought a house. Like off rip, I bought a house. I did not even have a house in New York. I feel like that says a lot. I have never felt like I had a home since I left college. I went and trained in Arizona and was out there. I got to New York, never bought a house because I did not know after 2-3 years what the future was going to hold. I bought a house here for a reason. I called (QB) Baker (Mayfield) after I got traded and Jarvis and talked about the future for a reason. I do not know if it happened last week, if it has been this way, it just has not been said, but like here it is put it all on the table for you.”
On if he felt stress building within the organization with his reluctance to confirm he wanted to remain in Cleveland, given his answer did not seem as definitive when asked about his future weeks ago :
“I just felt like it was starting to get out of hand. Like when I come up here, answer and say I do not know my future, we take it and it is like, ‘Oh well he did not say… What did he not say?’ It is like, no. Stop trying to listen too deeply on what is being said and take the message for what it was. I do not know the future. God forbid, I do not know if we are going to be alive next year or if the world, I do not know what is going to happen. I don’t predict the future. I do predict pretty close to Jarvis’ stats, but that is about it. Other than that, I do not know the future.”
On national reports speculating about his future and opinions:
“Yeah, and that is when it just go to be too much. Like I said, I really turned a page and I feel so much better about where I am at and to kind of see some of the old stuff go back, I am just done with it.”
On WR Jarvis Landry being selected to the Pro Bowl:
“It is great to see it. Year in and year out, I think he may be missed it once, something like that. That is just little things to add on to the résumé when it is all said and done. If you ask him – I am sure you are going to ask him – he does not care. It is an honor, but he does not care. That is not what he is here for. A Pro Bowl is like a pat on the back for not getting to where you wanted to go this year. I am sure you are going to ask him, and he is going to tell you it an honor to be nominated and this and that or earned it or whatever word you want to use, but he would rather be in the playoffs playing significant games. We already talked big plans of how we can make things better. For now, we are focused on Baltimore. There is still an opportunity there as crazy as it is. A lot of things have to happen, we have to rely on X, Y and Z, but the only thing we can focus on is beating Baltimore and worry about whatever happens after.”
On if playing with Landry is a significant reason as to why wants to be in Cleveland to build something special:
“Yeah, it just does not seem right to do this without him. I know being apart from him and not losing that relationship that we had but it kind of taking a step back because we are going through our own things in our lives and not being able to be there, like I tell you all, I am babysitting every now and then and chilling with Joy and Little J. It is just too special to leave. Like I said, I am just in the process of putting new walls and stuff up in the house, a new dog house and it is just too special of an opportunity.”
On what makes him believe in the potential for the Browns:
“If you just take a look at the season and be realistic and not try to like pick and choose or kind of look for the controversy, we coulda, woulda, shoulda a lot of games and they turned out to not go our way. There is the Rams game. The 49ers kind of got into us. The Seahawks game was there, the second Steelers game. There are so many games where it is like we could be sitting here at 10-6 at the end of the season, 12-4 possibly, 11-5 or anything but 6-8 in this moment. I am just excited. I am not trying to look too far ahead to next year because there is still an opportunity here.”
On if the Browns’ first matchup with the Ravens in Week 4 showed the team’s potential at its best:
“I do not know. Glass half empty or half full. Do you look at it like as was it Baltimore at its worst? I do not really know how to answer that. We came out there, and like I always tell you, it is any given Sunday. Any team can win going into one of these games. We came out, we gave it to them the first game and I know they are going to come here and try to secure home field advantage for them in the playoffs. I know they already clinched and still have games to play so they are going to go out there and play us so we have to go out there and win.”
On expectations for his matchup with Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey:
“Good football. They have been playing well at a high level. They have been doing some good things over there on defense. They just started clicking. I always say, there is always that one team each year that not to say comes out of nowhere, but they just have it. They have clicked up. When Philly won the Super bowl, I remember I was in New York and just seeing how they were and they were all moving together and the 49ers are like that team. It is just about that tight-knit group, and that is what they have going on right now. All we can do is focus on our gameplan and what we need to do to win. That is it.”
On if he will have to hold his emotions against Humphrey after their altercation in Week 4:
“Like I told you, I am over it. Like I told you, I have had the candy dangled in front of me before. It is just football.”
G Joel Bitonio:
On the 2020 Pro Bowl selections and being named an alternate:
“It is one of those things. It is good and obviously you want to get in first ballot, but it is one of those things where you are still getting honored. People are recognizing that you are a good player and there are other good players in this league. There are only three guards that can go in the AFC, and there are three good ones that made it. It is still an honor to get recognition, and I appreciate the people that voted for me. Obviously, hopefully we win more games this year and I think that is how you get a little bit more recognition when you win more games as a team and doing better as team. You saw the Ravens had 12 guys, and I am sure if they were .500, they would not have 12 guys. It is one of those things where if you win more games, you get more recognition, but I do appreciate the people that voted and the respect I got for that.”
On if he feels like he played at Pro Bow level this year, particularly in the second half of the season:
“It is one of those things. O line playing the NFL is a play-by-play basis. You have a game where you go against the 9ers or you go against (LA Rams DT) Aaron Donald and you give up a sack or something, people remember those plays. There are also good plays for those [bad plays], like the Patriots game where I kick the ball out and stuff. There are plays this year where you want back, but I think if you look at the whole picture, I played at a high level this year. Can there be improvements? Of course, but I think it is at a Pro Bowl level and I think that if you look at the whole picture and see from play to play what we have done, there is a lot of good.”
On recapturing the performance against the Ravens in Week 4:
“We have to come out focused and have a good gameplan, which we put in today, and I think we have the right things. They have changed a lot on their defense. They did not have (Ravens DT) Brandon Williams that game, a couple of linebackers playing a little bit more than they have in the past. They have (Ravens OLB Matthew) Judon kind of running around back there. He is kind of their guy that they are letting pick and choose where he wants to rush from so it is going to be us executing, us playing our best game because I know they are going to come out ready. They are fighting for first place in the AFC, and we are fighting to stay alive. It is real slim hopes, but we have to win or game to keep anything and any hopes alive.”
On if he would like to have seen more recognition for C JC Tretter:
“Yeah, I think so – some more recognition. The Pro Bowl is one of those things where it takes a year or two when you are playing at the Pro Bowl level to actually get recognized, and at the end of your career, you get one or two years when you are not quite playing at a high level but you get recognized anyways. It takes some time. He signed a nice extension and he has been playing at a high level the last couple of years, but it takes playing against a few teams to make it happen. I think he deserves it. He played at a high level this year and he did not quite get the recognition, but I think it is moving in the right direction.”
RB Nick Chubb:
On being named to the Pro Bowl:
“Yeah, I am excited about it. Still have work to do so I am not trying to think too far ahead on it. Just take it day by day still.”
On if it was always a goal of his to make the Pro Bowl:
“The goal is just to go out there and play my best. Whatever happen, happens.”
On what stands out about the Week 4 victory at Baltimore:
“I think for the most part, our team we came ready to play and guys just played their tails off every snap. We were very physical, and we played hard for each other. That is what I saw when I watched that film.”
On how disappointing is it that the Browns followed that with a losing streak whereas the Ravens won 10 consecutive games:
“It is disappointing because we did not win some of the games that we should have, but we still have a chance. Until we are eliminated, we are going to keep fighting. Every day, we are going to come in here and practice hard and just try to get better still.”
On if there is going to be that point where he acknowledges his achievements this season, given his continued emphasis on playing well each upcoming week:
“I do not know. Maybe when I am older, I will look back. I am still in my NFL career. I am still just starting so I am just trying to go find a way to get better, find motivation so I am not going to say that I did great things. Try to find something else to train for and get better on.”
WR Jarvis Landry:
On being selected for the Pro Bowl:
“A lot of hard work. A lot of things I could not do it by myself. Obviously, it was a lot of pieces put together. Even though it is an individual award, a lot these guys and a lot of the coaches made it possible for me to be in the position to make plays, and I did that.”
On WR Odell Beckham Jr. saying he wants to be in Cleveland and to build something special and how that can help the process moving forward:
“I have been saying that. I think (General Manager) John (Dorsey), (Head Coach) Freddie (Kitchens), Dee and Jimmy (Haslam) and everybody already knew that. I do not know where it came from. I do not know who put that out. He is a guy that to be able to go and do what we want to do, he is going to have to be a part of it. I am happy that is put to bed.”
On if he believes noise surrounding a prominent player like Beckham can create stress in the locker room:
“No, I do not because Odell has conversations with guys on the team. Odell talks with to everybody and everybody kind of knows the feel, but also knows that it is a business, a well. Like he said, he did not buy a house to give it up after one year, and I do not think this team made this type of investment, a long-term investment to give it a year.”
On NFL Network Mike Silver’s reports that he told the Cardinals to ‘come get him’:
“Yeah, I would never say nothing like that. I do not even want to talk about it.”
On if it is upsetting to see reports like that:
“Yeah, very.”
On if he will address the reports in any way:
“I did not feel like I had to address it. I think that the passion and the team I play for that they trust and know my heart and know that I am in this and I would never look to another team during a game, especially that we are losing and say come get me with a worse record than we have. Mike (Silver) or whoever the source was, it is all about clicks now and I get it, but at the end of the day, do not try and slander my name. If you did not hear me say it directly, you should not have to be able to report about it.”
On if the report goes against everything he has preached and represented as a teammate and player:
“Absolutely. I would never ever do that.”
On if playing with Beckham and accomplishing their goals together is still something that drives him towards striving for success in Cleveland:
“Yeah, of course, our relationship is a big piece and a big part of us being together again. Not knowing if it would be possible but it happened, and that part is behind us now. Now it is time to try to find a way to make it work, whether that is finishing this year out and it starts next year or we get an opportunity to make a run at the playoffs and from there it is a game at a time. Everything is still in front of us.”
On if the team can ultimately benefit from the adversity faced this year:
“One thing that you can never have enough of is experience. I think guys go through things throughout the season and a lot of these guys were on the team last year so they kind of felt the same things that were going on this year in some instances. I think down the road it will allow us to have that experience to even start a season off with guys that have been through those type games and those tough battles, long battles and long trials of the season and we will be able to pull them out.”
On what gives him hope and excitement that the pieces in place will allow the Browns to improve:
“The guys are invested. Guys continue to come to work and show up and work as hard as they can. That is really all you could ask. Stepping out there on Sundays and obviously competing to win.”
On the team taking time to figure things out and taking more time to reach its potential:
“I know through every season things happen – whether it is injuries, whether it is something off the field or whatever, things happen – I did not anticipate our record. I did not anticipate not having the success that we truly should have. Things happen. It is about how we respond and how we show up each and every game to come to work and show up on Sundays to try to win.”
On if he expected the Browns’ Week 4 win at Baltimore would be a springboard for the season:
“At that point earlier in the year, we still were kind of making mistakes. We did not play a clean Baltimore game the first time we played them, but we were able to get ahead and give our defense some momentum on the road. Those guys did a hell of a job making plays against their offense. As the season went on, we started to eliminate some of the penalties and things like that. In some cases, we turned the ball over, and when you do that in the NFL, you do not win games. All the things that we talked about.”
On if showing emotions on the sideline is a part of who he is:
“It is not going to change. I think from an outlook, from a fan perspective or anybody else’s perspective that is not playing the game or on the field, they can always easily say it is a negative thing that is happening, they are arguing, they are fussing or whatever it is. I think the biggest thing that everybody should know is that everybody in this building has a common goal and that is to win. Everybody wants to do their part. I think that is the thing that kind of gets mislead when you see a video or when you see things.”
On if he has talked with Head Coach Freddie Kitchens following their in-game conversation and where their relationship stands:
“We have talked. We talk every week. After every game, we talk. Like I said on Sunday, our differences do not make me look at Freddie differently or talk to him or treat him differently. He is still our head coach. He is still the leader of this football team. We follow his message. We follow him each and every day. He give us our marching orders, and we go and try to get our job done.”
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