{"id":84579,"date":"2024-01-25T01:07:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=84579"},"modified":"2024-01-25T01:07:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:07:54","slug":"pro-bowler-joel-bitonio-breaks-silence-on-browns-firing-offensive-coaches-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/pro-bowler-joel-bitonio-breaks-silence-on-browns-firing-offensive-coaches-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro Bowler Joel Bitonio Breaks Silence on Browns Firing Offensive Coaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0are in the midst of sweeping changes to the offensive coaching staff, and one of their most decorated members expressed his opinion on the moves Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\"Joel<\/p>\n

Left guard\u00a0Joel Bitonio\u00a0spoke with reporters at the 24th Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on the evening of January 23. Media members asked the\u00a0five-time All-Pro\u00a0about the Browns\u2019 decision to fire offensive coordinator\u00a0Alex Van Pelt, which is the biggest decision the organization has made to this point in the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved AVP. He was a great guy and did a lot of good things for us,\u201d\u00a0Bitonio said, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. \u201cI know him and\u00a0[head coach Kevin] Stefanski\u00a0and really the whole staff did a great job of getting us in the right plays. I knew nothing about [Van Pelt\u2019s] until I saw it on Twitter like everybody else, so it\u2019s always a little bit of surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitonio commented further, indicating that the choice to move on from Van Pelt may have been more Stefanski\u2019s than that of general manager\u00a0Andrew Berry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Coach Stefanski just wants to continue to tweak things. He did some things on defense last year and some things on offense now this year and special teams as well last year,\u201d Bitonio added. \u201cBut I have nothing but good things to say about a AVP. He was a great dude. He truly embodied that play-for-your-brother attitude with us, and you never want to see guys leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

Browns\u2019 Decision to Fire Alex Van Pelt, Offensive Coaches Came as Surprise Around NFL<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/h2>\n
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CBS Sports\u2019 Josina Anderson\u00a0was the first to report Cleveland\u2019s decision to fire Van Pelt, running backs coach\u00a0Stump Mitchell\u00a0and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney on January 17. In addition, Anderson noted in her report that \u201csome player [were] upset from the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

The call was somewhat curious considering the Browns offense, and particularly the passing game, clicked under Van Pelt\u2019s guidance once the team brought in quarterback\u00a0Joe Flacco\u00a0and elevated him into a starting role. Flacco averaged\u00a0more than 300 yards passing\u00a0across a 4-1 run that landed Cleveland the No. 5 seed in the AFC.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Houston Texans\u00a0rolled over the Browns on Super Wild Card Weekend by a score of 45-14, in part because Flacco threw back-to-back interceptions on the offense\u2019s first two drives of the second half \u2014 both of which Texans defenders returned for touchdowns.<\/p>\n

That said, Cleveland\u2019s top-rated defense allowed 24 first-half points, as Houston quarterback\u00a0CJ Stroud\u00a0picked the secondary apart. He had time to do so because 2023 Defensive Player of the Year\u00a0Myles Garrett and company failed to get home even once on the day, producing zero sacks in the defeat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

RB Nick Chubb Among Browns\u2019 Possible Cap Casualties<\/h2>\n

\"Cleveland<\/h2>\n
\n

The Browns offense is likely in store for some changes to its offensive scheme, which might include significant additions and\/or subtractions from the roster.<\/p>\n

One player whose future is in question is four-time Pro Bowl running back\u00a0Nick Chubb. Chubb is coming off of a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 that requires two surgeries to repair. He is entering the final year of his\u00a0$36.6 million contract in 2024, and the team can save more than\u00a0$11.8 million\u00a0by cutting or trading Chubb this offseason.<\/p>\n

Second-year running back\u00a0Jerome Ford\u00a0had a\u00a0breakout sophomore season\u00a0in 2023, which could pave the way for Cleveland to move on from Chubb in the interest of clearing cap space to fill more pressing holes on the roster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0are in the midst of sweeping changes to the offensive coaching staff, and one of their most decorated members expressed his opinion on the moves Tuesday… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}