The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Browns coach on future: ‘We’re really close’
BEREA, OHIO — Freddie Kitchens insisted he has not asked Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam or General Manager John Dorsey for assurances he’ll return next season as head coach. But fans and media are asking plenty of questions about whether Kitchens will keep his job beyond Sunday’s regular-season finale against the 1-14 Cincinnati Bengals.
What Kitchens must hope for is Browns brass believing he’ll significantly improve if given another year because this season of great expectations for a loaded roster flopped on his watch.
“Everybody around here is very, very supportive. I couldn’t have wished for more support,” Kitchens said while stating his case Monday in a news conference on the heels of a 31-15 loss to the AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens. “So everybody in this building I think is pulling toward the same direction, and we’re close in a lot of areas now.
“We’re really close, and sometimes that gets lost in the shuffle.”
Kitchens clarified he meant the Browns are close to becoming a consistent winner, even though their record of 6-9 suggests otherwise, especially because it includes losses to backup quarterbacks Devlin Hodges of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Brandon Allen of the Denver Broncos.
“We’ve got a young core here that’s experiencing life in the NFL for the first time, first couple years, navigating through expectations that sometimes the outside puts on you,” Kitchens said. “And I think we’ve done a better and better job of that during the course of the year realizing how you temper those expectations.”
Kitchens had never been a head coach at any level until the Browns promoted him Jan. 9. He joined them as a running backs coach in 2018, then flourished as a first-time offensive coordinator and play-caller in the final eight games last year to earn the biggest break of his career.
“I truly feel like I’m my worst critic,” Kitchens said, but, “Every time I go through something, I learn from it.”
Critics of Kitchens will point to the end of the first half against the Ravens (13-2) as evidence the coach hasn’t learned from all of his mistakes. Poor play calling, decision making and clock management combined to put the Browns in a 14-6 hole at halftime after they had led 6-0 through the game’s first 28 minutes.
On third-and-1 at the Browns 28-yard line with 2:09 left in the second quarter, Kitchens called a halfback pass on which Kareem Hunt was tackled for an 8-yard loss, and after the game, Kitchens said he would have gone for it on fourth-and-1. The Browns punted on fourth-and-9, and the Ravens scored two plays later to capture a 7-6 lead with 1:18 remaining. “You either look like an expert or you look like a goat, and I looked like a goat,” Kitchens said.
Then the Browns got the ball back at their 25, and the Ravens were out of timeouts. Kitchens called three consecutive passes, which fell incomplete.
After the three-and-out and another punt, the Ravens took possession at their 25 with 55 seconds left and scored another touchdown with nine seconds remaining.