Berea, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Discipline, focus, accountability have been the buzz words used often during the Browns’ 3-game losing streak.
Like a broken record, they’ve been a common theme that head coach Freddie Kitchens is out to put a stop to, starting Sunday at Denver.
“We've identified the problems that we need to correct, and hopefully they get corrected,” Kitchens said. “It takes everybody, and everybody's gotta be pointed in the right direction. And I feel like we are, and now we gotta go out and do it.”
Kitchens indicated on Monday he planned to tweak things in practice to include a consequence for mistakes, and he was true to his word.
To get his players attention, and to get them to focus, Kitchens is employing what he did in training camp – commit a penalty, you run.
“I know it sounds simple, but we have to fix them somehow,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “Things like that where it’s like a high school thing but, hey, if it’s going to get us thinking about it, if guys don’t want to jump off, then maybe we’ll improve a little bit in the game.”
The Browns have been penalized a league-high 70 times through 7 games and the quick math shows that’s 10 penalties a game. The NFL record is 163, set by the 2011 Raiders, coached by former Browns coach Hue Jackson, and this Browns team is on pace to challenge the mark.
The franchise record is 128, set in 1989 under Bud Carson, who was also in his first season as head coach.
Those are records this year’s Browns don’t want to break.
“I feel like there’s a focus around here, there’s an urgency that we’ve got to make something happen,” Bitonio said. “It’s one of those things where everybody here, we’re grown men, we’re this, we’re that, but there’s something to be said in meetings if you’re taking the right notes, if you’re prepared, because everybody goes out there and plays hard.
“It’s how you prepare through the week and are guys taking the right notes, are guys focused in meetings, are guys reviewing the practice enough, are they watching enough film on their own? And those are the things that we have to continue to have to uptick to make sure we’re ready to go.”
Quarterback Baker Mayfield, a team captain, was asked Wednesday what role he can play to help elevate the attention to detail from his teammates during the week.
“I can continue to be more vocal and harp on the little details within every day of practice,” Mayfield said. “I talked after the game about translating it to Sundays, but when it comes time on Sunday, they are not even thinking about it, it is second nature and they carry it over. It is not even a question.”
Kitchens quit making players run during the first 7 weeks to keep them fresh, but another 13 penalties against the Patriots and a 2-5 record with the season teetering on the cusp of disaster forced his hand.
“We’re working hard and every day trying to find a way to improve,” running back Nick Chubb said. “[Wednesday] we went back to the basics. Jumping offside, there’s punishment for things like that. Just trying to find a way to improve on it and trying to find something that works.”
