by As players reported to Berea Wednesday, head coach Freddie Kitchens and general manager John Dorsey got a chance to talk to the media that were very eager to fire away questions with training camp officially starting tomorrow morning. Duke Johnson even reported to Berea despite hiring a new agent in hopes for his demand of being traded gets answered. When asked about Duke Johnson, Kitchens seemed confident in keeping him in Cleveland.
“We’ve said from the very beginning that Duke is a Cleveland Brown,” Kitchens explained during the opening press conference. “He signed a contract last year. He’s going to be here, he’s going to have a role in our offense and he’s going to have a significant role in our offense. He’s a productive player. We’re not giving away good players, ok?”
Newly acquired Browns running back Kareem Hunt suffered a grown injury and will open camp on the non-football injury list with a groin injury, first reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. With Hunt unable to practice for some time, that gives Johnson more opportunity to run with the first team during training camp after practicing mostly with the second team during minicamp.
Kitchens knows all the hype surrounding the Browns this season after the offseason moves made to bolster the roster. He said he wants to keep his players locked in and focused within the locker room, not worrying about anything else going on regarding the team’s future.
“We’ve got a bunch of guys here that are in it for the guys in that locker room and that’s the only thing they care about,” Kitchens told the media today at the start of the press conference. “That’s the only thing I want them to care about. I don’t want them caring about any outside influence at all, whether it’s what people say in the media, what people say on Twitter, what people are saying on Facebook and all of that kind of stuff. None of that matters, because they’re not here and they’re not going to walk out on the field on Sunday.’’
Browns fans will finally get to see the team start training camp tomorrow in front of a sold-out crowd anxious and ready for the 2019 season to start. The long wait is finally over and football is back in Berea.
