Giants’ Kitchens to call plays vs. former team
Freddie Kitchens was fired after one stormy, discouraging season as Browns coach. This weekend he’ll get a shot at some personal payback.
Kitchens will call plays for New York on Sunday night against Cleveland after Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Garrett will consult remotely with Kitchens, who still isn’t sure with which quarterback he’ll be working.
Giants starting QB Daniel Jones is dealing with two leg injuries, and if he can’t play, backup Colt McCoy, who started 21 games for the Browns from 201013, will start against his former team. The decision on a starter probably won’t be made until Saturday.
As for Kitchens, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski isn’t expecting the Giants to do much differently.
“First of all, I hope Coach Garrett is feeling OK,” Stefanski said opening his Zoom call. “I do not think it changes much. They have an offensive philosophy that they believe in. They have a system. We have plenty of games worth of what that system looks like. I do not think it changes much, regardless of who is calling plays on Sunday night.”
Maybe not. But the Kitchens and McCoy situations are interesting subplots for a matchup that already has high stakes for the Giants (5-8) and Browns (9-4), both pushing to make the playoffs.
Giants coach Joe Judge said Kitchens was the obvious choice to assume Garrett’s role as play- caller based on his experience.
He’s not worried about Kitchens’ history with the Browns affecting his decision-making.
“I have no apprehension of putting Freddie in there,” Judge said. “Just because of familiarity with the team, to me it would be more of a strength than anything else. I think everyone here is professional. Everybody has some kind of familiarity with the players you’ve coached, coaches you’ve worked for previous organizations or you’ve worked at.”
Kitchens has been coaching New York’s tight ends this season. But it was innovative play- calling when he was elevated during the 2018 season from running backs coach to interim coordinator that helped him get Cleveland’s coaching gig.
But a 2019 season that began with huge expectations — and talk of playoffs — quickly fizzled as the Browns underachieved, finished 6-10 and Kitchens was added to the long list of Cleveland coaching failures.
Kitchens will be facing a Browns defense that has given up 80 points in the past two games, 82 if you count the safety Cleveland gave up while trying a series of laterals in the final seconds of Monday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. BROWNS’ LANDRY CALLS RAVENS’ PETERS ‘COWARD’ AFTER ALLEGED SPITTING IN
CIDENT>> Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry called Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters “a coward” for appearing to spit at him during Monday night’s game.
A video taken from the national TV broadcast shows Peters spitting in Landry’s direction at the end of the first quarter. Landry has his back turned and is walking in the opposite direction and toward Cleveland’s huddle when Peters spits.
“He’s a coward,” Landry said Thursday on a Zoom call. “He knew that maybe behind my back he could do things like that, but to my face he wouldn’t. Take it for what it’s worth and now I know. Everybody knows what type of player he is and the type of person he is.”
WASHINGTON MOVES >> Washington safety Deshazor Everett went on injured reserve with a pectoral muscle injury that also affected his shoulder.
In another move, Washington signed running back Lamar Miller off of the Chicago Bears’ practice squad.