BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Jadeveon Clowney’s last move with the Cleveland Browns happened off the court — a public bashing born out of frustration and disappointment.
The team responded accordingly.
Clowney was fired from practice on Friday, a day after harshly criticizing the organization and coaching staff in a bombshell interview that effectively ended his sophomore season in Cleveland just before the finals in Pittsburgh.
Coach Kevin Stefanski declined to directly address Clowney’s status – or provide details on his decision to punish the defensive end – as the Browns (7-9), who still appear to be mired in drama, were preparing to face the Steelers (8-8) on Sunday.
However, Stefanski indicated that Clowney would not be on the trip.
“Nothing comes above the team,” he said.
Angry that he wasn’t featured more in Cleveland’s defense, Clowney said in a Thursday interview with cleveland.com that he didn’t feel appreciated and was “95% sure” he wouldn’t. would not return for a third season.
Clowney further claimed that the Browns gave preferential treatment to Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett four times and were solely focused on getting him to the Hall of Fame. He added that he needed to be around “someone who believes in me and in my abilities”.
Clowney has made it clear he has no personal issues with Garrett, who has 15 sacks heading into the Week 18 game with Pittsburgh.
Garrett said he understood Clowney wanted to be more productive, but was disappointed with how his teammate ultimately expressed it.
“It’s our team,” Garrett said. He is my brother. He is my teammate and I would have liked to be able to talk about this face to face and with us as coaches as well. He could have sat us all down and just had a chat and that probably would have been the way I would have handled it.
But hindsight is 20/20. He feels a lot of emotion about what has been a season of ups and downs and there is no perfect way to handle things. But I wish it behaved a little differently.
Garrett said his relationship with Clowney remained “cordial” and he didn’t take the comments to heart.
When asked if he would host Clowney at any time, Garrett replied, “We want volunteers, not hostages.”
“If you feel like nobody believes in you here,” Garrett said, “then go where you feel you’re wanted and loved and appreciated.”
Clowney reignited his career with nine sacks last season. Earlier this season, he expressed disappointment that the Browns were changing his assignment in games to give Garrett more favorable games.
Defensive line coach Chris Kiffin revealed that Clowney refused to play on any downs other than the third in October. 23 game in Baltimore. He was benched for the first series the following week against Cincinnati for his behavior.
Kiffin said the decision to move Garrett was natural.
“We’re going to put our best player in the best position to win,” he said.
Kiffin also disagreed with Clowney’s assertion that Garrett was treated differently.
“It’s been a frustrating season for all of us – everyone in this organization, defensively and for him,” Kiffin said. “Obviously he didn’t have the production he had last year, so he’s frustrated. I don’t agree with how he went about it, but we’re here today’ today to deal with it.
Clowney came to the Browns facility and attended a positional meeting with his fellow defensive lineman before being told to leave.
The upheaval surrounding Clowney is similar to the messy situation last season with wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who was suspended by the Browns and ultimately traded after weeks of drama.
Stefanski doesn’t think there is a disconnect between his players and his staff.
“Every team, the 32, we all deal with things throughout the season,” he said. “Sometimes they stay home and you take care of them, and sometimes they don’t. It is very similar to family. This is what we do. We operate as a family. Sometimes you make tough decisions, but that’s what we try to do.
Clowney was the No. 1 overall pick in 2014 by Houston. He spent five seasons with the Texans before playing a year with Seattle and Tennessee.
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