Myles Garrett wants ‘volunteers’ after Jadeveon Clowney sent home
BEREA − Jadeveon Clowney’s time with the Cleveland Browns may very well be over. If it is, it ended with him being sent home from practice two days before the season finale.
The discipline came on Friday, a day after Clowney made inflammatory remarks about the organization and his future within it in an interview with Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. Coach Kevin Stefanski said he’s already made a decision about the defensive end’s status for the finale at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but would not disclose it publicly.
The 29-year-old Clowney was on a one-year deal, the second one he had signed with the Browns. He told Cleveland.com on Thursday he was “95% percent sure” he won’t be back when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on March 15 at 4 p.m., but “there’s still that 5%,” something he seemed to tie into the return of the Browns’ defensive staff.
Those comments, in and of itself, weren’t want led to what potentially could be Clowney’s Cleveland swan song. Other comments to Cleveland.com that ranged from the organization’s belief in him − “I need to be around somebody that believes in me and my ability” − to how he was utilized in comparison with fellow star end Myles Garrett − “You’re all trying to get somebody into the Hall of Fame when all that matters is winning” − were what set the wheels in motion that may have moved him out of town.
“I want volunteers not hostages,” Garrett said Friday. “If you feel like no one believes in you here, then go. Go where you feel like you’re wanted, you’re loved and you can be appreciated.”
Defensive line coach Chris Kiffin said Friday afternoon that Clowney was in the building at the start of the day. He was in the building for the positional meeting, at which time Kiffin addressed the situation.
Kiffin wouldn’t say exactly what was said in the meeting, other than to say “that I thought he handled it the wrong way as a man.” It was at some point after that meeting that Clowney left the building.
Stefanski also spoke with Clowney before he was excused for the day.
“JD is somebody who I respect,” Stefanski said. “He is a veteran. We have had conversations, yes, but I just don’t think it is fair in this setting [to talk about those conversations]. I understand the question – I do – but I just think it is fair to our team that we keep those conversations internal.”
The root of Clowney’s frustration with his usage dates all the way back to the Browns’ Oct. 23 loss in Baltimore to the Ravens. He had missed three of the previous four games, including the previous week’s loss to the New England Patriots, due to an ankle injury.
The Browns’ defensive game plan that day involved flipping the two star ends around, with Garrett starting by lining up over Ravens right tackle Morgan Moses and Clowney over left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Clowney eventually refused to go into the game, except for on third downs.
Clowney ended up playing just 23 snaps, or 36% of the Browns’ defensive snaps that day. Garrett played 51 snaps (80%) in the loss.
“Working through that Baltimore game, yeah, he came off the field, said that he was hurting and he said that, first third down came after that moment, I said, ‘Can you go on third?,'” Kiffin said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And he went and then next series said he couldn’t go on first, so that’s where we were, he played third down that game.”
The next week, the Browns played host to the Cincinnati Bengals on “Monday Night Football.” Rookie Alex Wright started and played the first defensive series in Clowney’s place, which is what he would do if Clowney doesn’t play against Pittsburgh on Sunday.