BEREA, Ohio — Two days after a 40-25 loss to the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens categorically denied cornerback Marlon Humphrey tried to choke Pro Bowl receiver Odell Beckham Jr. during the third quarter at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
The Browns were asked about the post on Baltimore’s team website, and that denial was shocking to most in Berea.
“I feel that’s kind of messed up that they did say that,” right tackle Chris Hubbard said following Tuesday’s light workout at team headquarters in Berea. “It’s definitely on film and he needs to take the consequences for his actions.
“You looked at the video, I looked at the video this morning, and I was like, ‘The dude is really like trying to strangle my brother, you know what I mean? Something has to be done about that. No matter what it is, we can’t have that in this league.”
On first-and-20 from the Baltimore 48-yard line with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, quarterback Baker Mayfield completed a 19-yard pass to running back Dontrell Hilliard, but as the ball carrier headed up the field, a melee ensued between several Browns and Ravens players.
The most egregious part of the incident occurred when Beckham Jr. appeared throw a punch and Humphrey wrestled him down to the field, but the Ravens defender was far from finished. With Beckham Jr. flat against the ground, Humphrey appeared to choke him for several seconds.
It was only after Landry pulled Humphrey off of Beckham Jr. that the incident simmered down, but not before Mayfield confronted a couple Ravens players and more personal foul unnecessary roughness penalties were called.
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Following the game, referee Shawn Hochuli addressed the incident with a pool reporter from The Baltimore Sun and said neither he nor officials monitoring the game from league offices saw “anything on the field that rose to the level of a disqualifying foul.”
Browns coach Freddie Kitchens sought further clarification on the incident from league officials Monday, and still was not convinced it was not a choke and was complimentary of Beckham Jr. for not retaliating in that situation.
“I did talk to them, and I’ll keep that between them and me,” Kitchens said. “We talked and I got an understanding.
“I’ll compliment Odell for this, in that instance, he did an excellent job of not retaliating. I would say that. I thought he was in some positions all day that…difficult situations all day, and I thought he handled it fairly well.”
Regardless of the punishments handed out for the incident in the Browns’ win in Baltimore, Kitchens believes the players have moved on to this coming week’s Monday Night Football matchup against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
“I think our chip on our shoulder needs to be the next game that we’re playing,” Kitchens said. “I think we’ve got our priorities wrong if we’re worried about this. That’s kind of my job. It’s not their job, and I don’t think they’re worried about it.
“I think our guys are focused on getting better. They were focused today on meeting and cleaning up the game, making corrections on the field. They’re focused on moving on to the next game. That’s what we’ve tried to instill, and I think our guys have done a great job of doing that, staying focused and being in the moment.”