CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The elation over the Browns’ first playoff berth in 18 years evaporated Tuesday morning with the news that head coach Kevin Stefanski and left guard Joel Bitonio were among four positive COVID-19 tests.
Bitonio and receiver KhaDarel Hodge were placed on Reserve/COVID-19 Tuesday afternoon.
“I feel for my teammates and coaches first off as human beings,” Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter said during a Zoom video conference Tuesday afternoon. “And their safety and their health and their families' health and making sure that they are OK and fighting this virus well and making it through, that's the first concern is for them as people and their families, making sure they're healthy.”
Stefanski and the Browns have done all they can to enforce mandated safety protocols and ensure everyone’s safety this season.
They’ve educated players and staff on safety while away from the facility and encouraged them to limit outside contacts, yet here we are.
“I think what this proves is guys, even when doing all the right things, this virus is so contagious that it doesn't guarantee you full protection,” Tretter said. “That's something we've talked about from the get-go. When this virus gets inside and you come into contact with it, it is so contagious that it's just tough. I feel for the guys that tested positive today and have tested positive over the last 11 days.”
Stefanski guided the Browns to an 11-5 record in his first season as head coach, the best mark by a Browns first-year head coach since Blanton Collier in 1963.
Bitonio, selected by the Browns in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, toiled through six consecutive losing seasons – four of those of at least 10 loses, including 0-16 and 1-15 campaigns, and was looking forward to appearing in his first playoff game.
Tretter, who signed with the Browns as a free agent in 2017, feels disappointment for both.
“You get Coach Stefanski who has had an amazing first season as head coach, brings us to the playoffs and won't be able to be out there to be with us,” Tretter said. “A guy like Joel Bitonio who's played so long in Cleveland and has his first shot to play in the playoffs and misses out, and I feel for them, first for their health, but that hurts, and I know that hurts them. We as players feel for them.”
Over the last two weeks the Browns have placed 17 players on Reserve/COVID-19 and as of Tuesday 10 remain on the list – Bitonio, Hodge, tight end Harrison Bryant, linebackers B.J. Gooson and Malcolm Smith, cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson, safety Andrew Sendejo as well as practice squad center Javon Patterson and defensive back Elijah Benton.
The latest COVID news out of Cleveland has raised questions about postponing Sunday night’s Wild Card game at Pittsburgh.
“We've tried to be incredibly flexible all year and you've seen some games moved, some games rescheduled,” NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said on the same Zoom call. “The reality of where we are now in the playoffs and given the tighter window, a lot of those contingencies that we would have had in the regular season are things we probably don't have the same level of contingencies during the playoffs leading up to the super bowl, which is why we're stressing it's going to require an even increased vigilance.”
Tretter echoed what he has been saying for the last two weeks.
“When it comes to competitive advantage, that's not how we're going to make decisions,” Tretter said. “We have to continue to make decisions through a health and safety lens, and we have to continue to contact trace, continue to figure out where this is coming from, and as we learn more as the week goes on, I think we'll have a better answer. As of now, we're kind of in a holding pattern as we have our first five people today – it's a lot of contact tracing.”