Myles Garrett lost his appeal of an indefinite suspension for ripping the helmet off Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and then hitting him in the head with it Thursday afternoon, hours after Wilks spoke.
What triggered the melee according to Rudolph was that Garrett hit him too late, but Wilks disagrees.
“I don’t think it was a late hit, at all,” Wilks said. “I don’t think it was a late hit. I think the activity that took place after that was inexcusable, on both sides, if you want to ask me. I thought the hit itself was within the game and then the extracurricular activity, we can’t have.”
The narrative out of Pittsburgh is that the Browns defense played dirty, as evidenced by multiple helmet-to-helmet hits that resulted in concussions for receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson. Smith-Schuster also suffered a knee injury on the same play.
Safety Damarious Randall was ejected for the hit on Johnson in the third quarter that left the rookie bleeding from his ear.
Wilks defended himself and his unit Thursday morning.
“That is not my personality, alright. That is not our personality as an organization,” Wilks said. “Things happen on the football field. Very unfortunate and I don’t think that anything was malicious at all with the hit from Damarious [Randall]. It just so happened to [catch] him in the wrong place so again, it’s nothing we coach, nor do we condone that.”
Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer was asked about kicking into what is becoming the NFL’s Bermuda triangle.
“Bermuda Triangle? That is actually a good way to put it. Everybody, our opponents have had problems,” Priefer said. “Austin, all of his misses have been at that end of the field. It is funny because you talk to (K) Phil Dawson before the season, and I got a lot of information from Phil. Obviously, he spent many great years here. He never gave me that indication that the Dawg Pound was that bad, but he did say, once the ball gets up in the air, the winds do not always do what the flags are showing. I think that is what is happening.”
Dawson mastered the art of kicking down by the lake. To help him in his preparation, a flagpole was installed on the southwest opening of the stadium because the movement of the tassels above the uprights were consistently deceiving.
The tassels could be still, and the wind was actually swirling, or vice versa.
Dawson would use that flag to aid him in gauging conditions, something Seibert and Priefer are still learning.
“I do not think it is that he has not learned how to read it. It comes down to not overthinking it, to be honest with you,” Priefer said. “Phil just said hit your true ball. You hit a true ball, and sometimes you can’t really determine what the winds are going to do or would even guess what they might do. I think at the end of the day, you have to practice it, you have to go down there and keep working on it.”
Priefer noted that Seibert was a perfect 12-12 kicking into the Dawg Pound during their customary Wednesday practice at the stadium.
“Pregame is always important,” Priefer said. “We just have to learn how to kick the right kick at the right time.”
The Browns waived Callaway Thursday afternoon moments before news surfaced that he faced a 10-game suspension for another drug policy violation. Callaway served 4 games to open the season and was benched against Buffalo for showing up late for the game.
“Unfortunately, Antonio did not do the things that I or we expect out of him on and off the field,” head coach Freddie Kitchens said. “I like Antonio a lot. I wish nothing but the best for Antonio moving forward.”
LIMITED: WR Odell Beckham Jr. (groin), WR Jarvis Landry (hip), LG Joel Bitonio (groin), LB Joe Schobert (groin)
FULL: OT Kendall Lamm (knee)