CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens was not always happy with the productivity in practices and the preseason games, but after wrapping up the exhibition schedule with a 20-16 win over the Detroit Lions at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland Thursday night, he was proud.
Kitchens, a first-year head coach in the National Football League, put his players through their paces, only having a handful of non-padded practices during training camp, and he appreciated every bit of effort the athletes poured into their crafts in an effort to make the initial 53-man roster this weekend.
“Before we get started, I want to just say how much I appreciate these 91 guys that we had,” Kitchens said following the win over the Lions. “It was really a tough camp for these guys. They fought until the very end on the very last drive. They were still fighting, a bunch of them.
“This is the toughest part of the year from the standpoint of our business. There are a lot of decisions tomorrow that are going to be emotional for them and emotional for us. We have asked them to do things over the past four or five months, and they have never batted an eye. I commend them for that.”
The Browns ended the preseason finale much like they started, by having a defender break through Detroit’s offensive line and get to the quarterback for a sack.
On the Browns’ first defensive play from scrimmage, defensive tackle Devaroe Lawrence registered a sack of Lions reserve quarterback Tom Savage. Lawrence’s sack resulted in a six-yard loss, and the Lions did not get ahead of the first-down markers after that.
Later in the drive, Lawrence drew a facemask penalty on offensive lineman Luke Bowanko, which the Browns declined to force a punt on fourth-and-14 from the Detroit 20-yard line.
Then, on the final play of the game, rookie linebacker Anthony Stubbs got free in the backfield on a delayed blitz, dove toward quarterback Josh Johnson and registered the sack as the final seconds ticked off of the clock.
“They would keep competing, and they would fight until the very end,” Kitchens said of what he learned from the fourth preseason game.
“Everything did not go really well at all times, but the difference between this week and last week, I thought they made improvements from the standpoint that they just continued to play the next play. That is what they did.”
Now comes the hard part for the coaches and decision-makers across the NFL.
The Browns will evaluate the players on the roster and must reduce the team to 53 active athletes from the 90 they were permitted to carry during training camp and throughout the preseason.
“I like our team,” Kitchens said. “This is never easy. We are going to have [to release] some good football players, some good guys and good people. When somebody busts their ass for you and they do everything you want them to do, it is hard to make those business decisions to let people go.
“I respect the hell out of the locker room that we had. They came together. We are truly not the Cleveland Browns until tomorrow, and even after tomorrow, Saturday or Sunday, we are still always looking to improve. Nothing is ever final in this business. The guys who are not going to be here anymore, I hold the utmost respect for those guys.”