The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Players react to Jaguar Gipson’s comments
Jaguars safety Tashaun Gipson, a Brown from 2012 to 2015, poked the bear twice in separate radio interviews on Nov. 13, and now the bear is poking back.
Gipson said he hopes the Jaguars score 40 points and shut out the Browns on Nov. 19 at FirstEnergy Stadium. He also predicted the Browns will go 0-16.
Gipson’s remarks on ESPN radio were strong enough that Jaguars coach Doug Marrone felt a need to address it in a team meeting on Nov. 15.
“That’s not something that we like to do as a team,” Marrone said during a conference call when asked what he told his players. “It’s been addressed, and we understand that it’s going to be very difficult for us to go on the road
and win a football game.”
Most of Gipson’s ire was directed to the Browns’ front office led by Sashi Brown for letting right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, center Alex Mack, wide receiver Travis Benjamin and himself walk in free agency.
Browns coach Hue Jackson addressed his own team about Gipson’s remarks but not in a teaching moment the way Marrone did in Jacksonville.
“You can bet your bottom dollar I did, yeah,” Jackson said. “I don’t think we need any motivation. We’re a 0-9 football team, so I don’t think we’re looking for anything. Anytime anybody says something about the organization and the football team, you want your people to be aware, but we’ve earned this. People say things all the time. We get it. It isn’t going to change until we change it. The only way you change it is you start winning.”
Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer issued his own challenge to Gipson, who is tied for the Jaguars lead with three interceptions.
“He was never one of my teammates,” Kizer said in the Browns locker room. “I don’t know what type of guy he is, but I look forward to going out there and executing my job to try to prove him wrong with those comments.”
Gipson got on a conference call from Jacksonville about an hour after his coach was on the phone. He can’t help himself. He paid attention to Marrone, but once Gipson starts talking, he continues to talk.
“I think that my comments were justifiable about the front office,” Gipson said. “I take ownership in saying the things I said that may have been pointed towards them, but make no mistake about it; I never disrespected anybody on the Browns team. They get paid just like we do, and I show respect for the guys they have, the same guys I knew when I was living in Cleveland.
“For my sake, I hope that DeShone Kizer has marked me and said he’s going to throw towards me or at me as much as possible. If that got him fired up, then, hey, that’s a job well done. At the end of the day, if it means more opportunities and means that they want to make me look bad, I’ve never shied away from a challenge. I’m a confident person. I’m going to be ready for sure and I know that my guys have my back over here.”
Gipson admitted he was out of bounds in saying the Browns would finish 0-16. He said all he cares about is making sure the Browns are 0-10 by around 4 p.m. Nov. 19.
That would mean the Jaguars are 7-3 and still first in the AFC South.
“Once you get to a certain level in the league and you’re dealing with a team that’s winless, you don’t want to be the team that loses to that team,” Gipson said. ‘I’m man enough to say the 0-16 comment probably was a bit too far, but at the end of the day, I do expect a Jaguars victory on Sunday. That’s what I’m worried about. Once this game’s over, I could care less what the Cleveland Browns have going on and who they’re playing.”
Gipson said he spoke by phone with Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey and running back Isaiah Crowell. Both shrugged off his comments.