BROWNS FIRE KITCHENS AFTER POOR SEASON
The Cleveland Browns fired coach Freddie Kitchens after a disheartening season that didn’t come close to meeting expectations.
Kitchens was let go Sunday night, just hours after the Browns were beaten by the lowly Cincinnati Bengals (214) to finish 6-10 and miss the playoffs for the 17th straight year.
Earlier, Kitchens held out hope he would be back for a second season, saying after the
33-23 loss in Cincinnati,
“I’m going to show up (to- day) and do my job.”
But owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam decided one season was enough and parted ways with Kitchens, who was a surprising hire a year ago because he had no previous head coaching experience. His successful eightgame stretch as the team’s offensive coordinator to end 2018 had sent his stock soaring.
Kitchens was plagued by numerous mistakes in his rookie season, with game management and an inability to get Cleveland’s offense rolling among his most notable flaws.
“We thank Freddie for his hard work and commitment to this organization but did not see the success or opportunities for improvement to move forward with him as our head coach,” the Haslams said in a statement. “Our focus is on hiring an exceptional leader for this football team, and we will take a comprehensive approach to this process. We are excited about the core players we have to build around and develop and we look forward to bringing in a strong head coach that will put this group of players in the best position to succeed.”
Rivera to Redskins?
Ron Rivera will meet with the Redskins to discuss their head coaching vacancy.
Agent Frank Bauer confirmed the former Carolina Panthers coach will visit the Redskins today. Rivera coached the Panthers the past nine seasons and took them to a Super Bowl before being fired earlier this month.
Rivera recently emerged as one of the top candidates to coach the Redskins, who face a potential organizational upheaval after going 313. President Bruce Allen’s role atop the football operations department is in jeopardy with owner Dan Snyder mulling changes at every level.
Coaching was certainly going to be one of those areas. Jay Gruden was fired after an 0-5 start this season, and interim coach Bill Callahan went 3-8 the rest of the way. It’s unclear if Callahan is a serious candidate for the fulltime job.
Along with Rivera, former Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has been connected to the Redskins, and former Ohio State and Florida coach Urban Meyer watched a recent game in Snyder’s suite.
Injury concerns
The Chiefs will hope for good news about their depleted secondary during their first-round playoff bye week.
Safety Juan Thornhill suffered a knee injury in Kansas City’s victory over the Chargers, which coupled with New England’s loss to Miami gave the Chiefs the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. Thornhill’s injury appeared serious — he needed the help of two trainers to limp off the field, never putting any weight on his knee.
The Chiefs already were missing cornerback Morris Claiborne to a shoulder injury, and cornerback Bashaud Breeland left the game with an illness.
Other playoff-bound teams were also unable to avoid injuries in their regularseason finales.
The Eagles lost running back Miles Sanders to an ankle injury and three-time Pro Bowl right guard Brandon Brooks to a shoulder injury in the first half. Brooks had to be carted off the field.
Starting Bills cornerback Levi Wallace was carted off with a right ankle injury in Buffalo’s loss to the Jets.
The Vikings were locked into the No. 6 seed in the NFC but still lost defensive tackle Armon Watts and offensive tackle Rashod Hill to left leg injuries in their loss to the Chicago Bears.
The Packers had three players get hurt as they secured a first-round playoff bye with a victory over the Lions. They were: center Corey Linsley (back), right tackle Bryan Bulaga (concussion) and linebacker B.J. Goodson (neck).