Browns’ Kitchens busy with coaches

Freddie Kitchens ran some Wishbone formation, pulled off a few trick plays and had wide receiver Jarvis Landry throw passes.

Cleveland’s offense was unpredictable, imaginative and wide-open under Kitchens last season.

It will be again. Kitchens said Monday he will continue to call plays as Browns coach despite hiring former Tampa Bay coordinator Todd Monken to oversee his offense next season.

Although he had little experience as a play-caller before, Kitchens proved to be adept at reading defenses and designing plays in eight games as the team’s interim coordinator in 2018.

Monken, who guided the NFL’s top-ranked passing attack last season, called plays for the Buccaneers but agreed to surrender that role to work with Kitchens.

“I’m very impressed that Todd made that decision,” Kitchens said. “He showed an investment in me and showed an investment in what we’re trying to build and the vision where we’re taking this thing. He made a decision based on people.”

Since being hired by the Browns, Kitchens has been quickly assembling his staff, a chore he said “is the most important time for me as a head coach, it is the staff to build.”

Along with Monken, Kitchens hired former Arizona coach Steve Wilks as his defensive coordinator.

Wilks, 49, was recently fired after going 3-13 in one season with Arizona.

Bears

General manager Ryan Pace wouldn’t say if Cody Parkey will return for another season, and coach Matt Nagy called out the struggling kicker for appearing on the “Today” show last week. Pace was adamant Monday that the Bears need to improve the kicking game that fell short in the playoffs.

Vikings

Super Bowl coach Gary Kubiak, the 57-year-old former Texans and Broncos head coach, has been hired as an assistant and offensive adviser to coach Mike Zimmer in Minnesota. Kubiak is being joined by his son, Klint, as the new quarterbacks coach. Gary Kubiak is a veteran play caller and offensive schemer who won Super Bowl 50 as the Broncos coach after the 2015 season.

Raiders

Oakland will meet with the Coliseum Authority one last time to discuss possibly playing at the Coliseum in 2019 before leaving for Las Vegas. “Yes, there still is a possibility that an agreement can be reached, [I’m] not sure what the odds are, but still possible,” said Scott McKibben, executive director of the Authority.