Wonder what happened....

Better be a very good reason.

Nothing is ever normal with this team.

Randall has had a weird season

Too much drama.

Nothing.

It's exhausting.

It's also poor leadership from the top of the organization on down.

Weird.

There must be something behind this.

Maybe some disciplinary thing for some offense.

I doubt that it is related to the first Steeler game.

Both teams have plenty incentive to win. So, precaution because of the hit just does not seem to cut it.

? I don't know.

Yearly drama cycle continues. Nauseating.

Lol so who are our safeties? Yeah I dont see us winning this one

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/11...g-the-week.html

A league source told cleveland.com that coach Freddie Kitchens made the move for something that happened during the week.

The full article

Browns safety Damarious Randall benched for Steelers game and left home for something that happened during the week

Updated 4:31 PM;Today 2:45 PM
Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, November 14, 2019
cleveland.com

Cleveland Browns safety Damarious Randall reacts after being ejected from the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second half. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)

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By Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns safety Damarious Randall was benched for Sunday’s Steelers game and kept home from the trip to Pittsburgh because of a coach’s decision, the club announced Saturday afternoon.

A league source told cleveland.com that coach Freddie Kitchens made the move for something that happened during the week.

Randall, who’s started five games this season, did not participate in the early position drills that were open to the media on Friday, but he didn’t appear on the injury report.


Kitchens wears a ‘Pittsburgh Started It’ T-shirt out on Friday night

Rookie Sheldrick Redwine is a candidate to start, but the Browns can also use T.J. Carrie or Terrance Mitchell at safety. The Browns are already thin at the position. Safety Eric Murray had already been ruled out with his knee injury and starting strong safety Morgan Burnett is on injured reserve with a torn Achilles suffered in the Nov. 14 victory over the Steelers.

Safety Jermaine Whitehead was waived the day after the Broncos game on Nov. 3 for making threatening and offensive remarks on social media following the game.

Randall, meanwhile, was ejected from the 21-7 victory over the Steelers for a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked receiver Diontae Johnson out of the game with a concussion. Randall was also fined $28,075, but is appealing.

He lamented the fact that he received death threats immediately after the ejection.


“I get so many death threats, so many people calling me names, people saying, ‘Oh, I hope you get hurt, I’m going to kill you, this and that,’’’ he told cleveland.com. “And it’s OK for fans to do it to us but then when we say something back, it’s a problem, we get in trouble. I just never understood that."

Randall says hit on Johnson wasn’t intentional

Randall was especially miffed because he’s never been flagged for a personal foul or been ejected. Was some of the vitriol from Steelers fans upset about Myles Garrett hitting Mason Rudolph in the head with Rudolph’s helmet at the end of the game?

“It shouldn’t matter,’’ Randall said. “At the end of the day, the NFL is a brotherhood; nobody goes out there to hurt anybody. We’re all in it, this is an entertainment-based business. ... The last thing I need to be doing is watching my back for fans and stuff talking crazy. I know most of them aren’t even about that life, because I done really been in that life. ... I know most of them ain’t even close to that life.


“It’s just funny to me how they blurt out and just say crazy, off the wall stuff, but just like the situation with (Whitehead). He lost his job behind something like that, but it’s OK for them to openly say stuff like that. I find that so crazy to me.’’

Randall was rattled by the sight of the injured Johnson, and apologized on Instagram after the game.

“I was shocked because I didn't know I hit him helmet-to-helmet up on the field and then I get back to the locker room and after the game I see it on social media and stuff,’’ he said. “I clearly hit him helmet-to-helmet, but I was just saying some prayers about it and that actually bothered me a little bit that he was laying there like that, because it just shows how dangerous this game is and how dangerous this game can be. Really, I just never intend to hurt anyone.’’

In other Browns news, the club has decided not to activate tight end David Njoku (wrist) for the Steelers game despite the fact that he said Friday he’s great and ready to go. Kitchens said the Browns are still working through some things with Njoku, and also complimented the play of the other tight ends.


Tight end Pharoah Brown, who missed Friday’s practice because of a personal reason, made the trip to Pittsburgh and will be available for the game.

Trainwrecks

He probably told Freddie to run the ball. Dumbass move if you ask me.

Its says for something that happened during the week. It didnt say Randall did anything.

Maybe for precautionary reasons Kitchens chose to leave him back due to the death threats he received after his ejection on TNF?

Maybe he didn't like Freddie's shirt.

hmmm I wonder if the NFL suggested it as a player safety precaution? He was getting death threats

i can't imagine skipping practice would be worthy of being basically suspended for a game without pay... basically

Randall has been playing really well.

otherwise, Freddie is playing to lose the game.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2819...led-vs-steelers

Browns LT Greg Robinson, S Damarious Randall ruled out vs. Steelers

Randall did not make the trip on coach Freddie Kitchens' decision after skipping a practice earlier in the week, according to a source. The Browns are already without their other top two safeties, Eric Murray (knee) and Morgan Burnett (Achilles), who was recently placed on injured reserve. That leaves Juston Burris and rookie Sheldrick Redwine as the likely safety starters Sunday.

Maybe it's disciplinary and Freddie making players accountable.... oh, wait, people expect that discipline gets instilled by waving a magic wand, lol


Players act up and the coach is the goat. Coach holds player accountable and the coach is the goat.... can't win.

If he skipped practice and was not injured...then stay home for the game. I am with Freddie on this one. He is a head case and will not be re-signed. How many games has he even played this year?

I have no issue with discipline. I have issue with taking your best safety off the field when you are this banged up for discipline. I'm sure there was something else that could have been done.

So strange .. ugh

The shirt is not an issue for me. This safety is manufactured drama. Safety, OK. Discipline, not as much. We need to get this snuffed before it is a circus. Playable inactive is odd.

After reading all the NEWS not opinions out there that is what I came up with. Possibly these death threats from Steeler fans has shaken Randall and because of that possibility talked with Kitchens about not going to Pittsburgh.. Once again Steeler's get special NFL considerations. Also note Goodell at the Ohio State vs Michigan game and was in the Michigan Booth routing against OHIO...hmmm lol

this sucks Randall is without a doubt our best Safety Don't mind corners out there as safeties during passing downs. Without Garrett we won't have full destruction into their back field every play.

If Randall skipped a practice after already being given an extra day off following the win against Miami, I can see how Kitchens might be upset and feel the need to exert his authority. Plus, he came here from GB with a reputation for being a headcase, so maybe the Browns' feel that this type of behavior needs to be nipped in the bud before it becomes a disruption in the locker room. I'd be surprised if he's here next year.

This is not good, missing your best safety is never good...especially with suspect depth there...

I do find it odd that he (Randall) didnt even travel with the team...I guess the drama keeps unfolding

Dose his PLAY on the field help or hurt the Team ???

... u certainly have a firm grasp on the concept of discipline ... its not conveniant for us right now so we’ll find another way to punish you thats equal to you missing a game .... cause there is such a thing .. ...

By your theory the RB’s and CB’s would get punished way harsher than any other position group cause we have depth at those positions .... ya, that encompasses the true meaning of discipline ... *L* ...

And just think, this is how down they are on Freddie AFTER WE'VE WON THREE STRAIGHT GAMES!



He wore a T-shirt! He chose for Randall not to play! On the humanity!

Like what? What would you do, within the confines of what the CBA allows, that hasn't been tried, yet?

Would telling him to stop being a dumbass...sthu and go roast a duck in Heinz field be okay with the CBA ?

Everybody whined and cried about Freddie not using discipline and how he needed to be tougher on the players.

Now we have people whining and crying when he's tough on the players.

I call it BBS. Baby Bear syndrome. You know... Pappa Bears porridge was too hot. Momma Bears porridge was too cold. But Baby Bears porridge was JUST RIGHT!

Everybody wants Baby Bears porridge.

And this is coming on the heels of a three game winning streak.

"Oh the humanity!

Make him do laundry and scrub cleats for all I care. Taking him out of the game hurts the fans more than him. He's rich already, not going to miss the check.

Maybe I am just suffering from 40+ years of disappointment and bad management, but I have a feeling that this is a result of the last Pittsburgh game. No proof but I have not heard Randall was a discipline issue in the past. Maybe I am mistaken but it is just a gut feeling. I hope the Browns are not costing themselves a win and any hope at the playoffs.

I doubt Freddie's judgement. I think he's a bit of a fool. So I would have to know what was behind the decision 100% to be ok with it from my POV. To you and Diam with your snark about doubting Freddie after 3 wins, I think we won in spite of Freddie not because of Freddie.

Additionally, Freddie's winning on the weak half of the schedule does not impress me at all. If we sneak into the playoffs after the first half of the season debacle, it will not be a great victory. This talent should have easily dominated this division.

What? You don't know that it is the administrator of law that is at fault today, and not the transgressor *L*

Face it friend ... we live in a Burger King "have it your own way" society.

Just a thought as I read through this thread. People tend to forget the fact that there is a major difference between thinking your opinion matters and having your opinion actually matter. Everyone may be entitled to their opinion, but very few opinions have impact. Since there isn't an opinion on the board that actually matters, it's all just supercilious hyperbole. So, FWIW:

GO BROWNS!

I see. If we lose it's Freddie's fault. If we win it's despite Freddie.

You've thought he was stupid ever since you heard his accent. You aren't fooling anyone.

Like what?


If you skip meetings or practice for no good reason, you need to get benched.

What about fining him? It’s better than weakening the team.

A coach can only fine a player so much. IMO allowing players who don't give a flip to remain players that week weakens the team more.

After watching today’s game, it’s difficult to imagine we could be weakened more, even if he was there and just kept his hands in his pockets.

They can’t make up their minds or they have no concept of what discipline really is ...

One week Freddie needs to be fired cause his team is undisciplined ... now he needs to be fired cause he was to tough on someone .... *L* ...

Randall would have made very little to no difference today ... the lead menZa on this one was ticked over the TD pass .... what menZa don’t realize is even if Randall picked it off .... it would have been PI on the mugging of the WR ...

Bud Grant needs to be our next coach.

He'd do better than Freddie. I want Lincoln Riley immediately.

Is he still alive? I'm too lazy to Wiki.

We can dig up his bones from his grave and he would be a better coach than anything this expansion team has had.

The Browns need a load of discipline.

The "Woe is me" crowd is out in full force. LOL....it's pretty funny reading.....Waaaaa LOL

j/c....

From Zac Jackson...

Damarious Randall was left at home. On the record, the Browns said the reason was not injury-related. A team source told The Athletic it was “an attitude issue” and something that was decided earlier in the week. The Browns announced it Saturday because NFL rules require teams to announce when players don’t make the trip. Either way, it’s another on the long list of disappointing and/or puzzling things that define this season

Take it for what it is worth, but on the pre-game radio show(s), it was mentioned that the attitude issue stemmed from Tretter getting paid and Randall didn't.

Randall is an odd one. Would love to hear a definitive report, but this is believable.

Looks like we have to add FS to our offseason to-do list.

Or let the rookie playout the season, to know what we have there, because Randall most likely will not be a Brown come next season.

So he's mad because he wasn't first? Talk about childish.

It would be really really nice if we could actually develop our next FS. Draft a CB late that has some vision and can hit and mold him into a centerfielder.

Randall has been disgruntled about his contract situation ALL offseason and season.

I'd bet he is out of here. It's not like he has been an obvious loss when missing from the lineup either.

He's replaceable.

Just add another to the list of insane and unexplained distractions this team has created under Dorsey/Kitchens leadership.

He's also history. Free agent next year.

It has been explained. Randall had a bad attitude and was benched.

Randall.... yet another player with 100,000 talent and a 10 cent head.

The rumor they're talking about on the radio (92.3) is that Randall apparently showed up for practice last week, but didn't want to practice outdoors because it was too cold. This guy played in Green Bay, right?

He's a millionaire, he shouldn't have to toil in the elements.

In an ideal world this is a guy you would hope is a leader in the locker room of a very young team, but instead he doesn't want to practice outdoors when temps were in the 30s, and he wasn't afraid to make an issue out of it. That's amazing, if true.

I heard Doug Dieken discuss this as well on 92.3. Dieken said Randall's attitude stemmed from the Browns not having enough heaters outside to keep him warm during practice.

What a team.

I read on Cleveland.com this morning that Freddie was asked about Randall being out and Freddie said it didn’t matter, that there was only 1 pass thrown down the middle. I guess there were no runs that reached the second level, no tight end receptions, no double on the outside needed

With all his millions, he should have just brought in his own pop-up blue tent with his heater in it.

I saw that after I posted. I am ok then with the benching. and in fact, I would just cut him now, imo.

Honestly might as well. He's not in the long term plans. Another move by Dorsey that has gone belly up. Another player under Freddie that has regressed.

I would give Freddie a pass on Randall. His discord is with the FO not paying him. Plain and simple. That's on JD for brining in a guy (once again) that is ME over TEAM.

At the same time, Randall did not have enough respect for Freddie to show up and work hard for his coach going into to the biggest game of the season regardless of the alleged contract issue with the FO.

Instead he had attitude problem because they were practicing in the cold and didn't have enough heaters.

I can hear that argument. He had a bad attitude coming here, and Freddie didn't turn it around.

but then I can raise you and say that Freddie is unfit to turn it around and that's back on Dorsey.

It's madness.

I think this thing about Randall is being overblown because of the disappointment of the season and the 2nd Pitt game.

I get how Randall is simply another major data point supporting whichever scapegoat we want to focus on (Dorsey, Kitchens, etc), but even with all this BS going on, I would still do the Randall trade all over, and I applaud Dorsey for making it happen.

Remember, we had a gaping hole at the FS position for a long long time. The previous legit FS we had was Gipson, who pissed and moaned his way out to Jacksonville. There were a few years where we had a parade of nobodies back there... and then we had Peppers in his first year. Yuck.

Dorsey came in and got Randall in a straight up trade for Kizer (QB that after his first year didn't have a chance in Hell of ever seeing the field again). We plugged a gaping hole in our D and gave up a guy we very well could have cut before the next season started.

I know people are frustrated. I am too. That doesn't mean Randall was a bad move. It just means his time here is probably done. If he does somehow get a new contract, it better be for a very short amount of time so that we can acquire/draft a replacement.

I agree. I thought, at the time, the Randall trade was a very good one by Dorsey and one of the better moves overall. Especially when it was followed up by moving him from CB to FS. Still do.

The market for FS this offseason is going to be crazy based on what players got last free agency period. Regardless of what has recently happened with Randall, I didn't think he was going to be back for what he might end up signing for anyways. Whatever has happended next with him is just a microcosm of much larger organizational issues, IMO.

Absolutely, it was a good trade to make. Unfortunately, it likely only worked out for one season.

Redwine, his replacement stepped up.

He was the highest graded defender last Sunday.

Randall would not have changed the out come of the game whatsoever.

If some of the scuttlebutt is true, then he did not deserve to be on the field with his teammates on Sunday ... imo ... if he was too good to not join them in practicing in the cold.

I've never heard of such nonsense.

Has anyone else before?

Residual effects of the last regime?

Good grief!

It was definitely a solid trade and it worked out GREAT for us, and it could still be plenty good going forward.

Nothing says any bridges have to be burnt here. He just needs to learn that he's the employee and Kitchens is his boss and he gets paid to practice even if it is a little chilly & damp and he doesn't feel like it because he's cranky that day.

Dear Randall: The Only Easy Day is Yesterday..... suck it up, Buttercup.

That's the end of me busting on him. He's a good player and he has value here and while I wouldn't overpay to keep him, I'd be plenty happy if he works into the long-term plans because this is a spat, not a deal-breaker kind of issue.

You mean you would rather have Randall here for the time he spent rather than having Kizer here? What the hell are you talking about? You know Dorsey sucks because he didn't keep Kizer!

Randall handing his intercepted ball to Hue was all it took to make that trade worthwhile.

Randall's season has been weird. The concussion he said he didn't have was strange. The green hair. I believe he is making a play to get out so he can get big money.

I believe there is more to this Randall Story than people think. Something is going one between him and the team - and I am not certain if he is the one that is wrong anymore. JMO

I remember people saying he was an odd bird when he got here. I don't think the situation is really anything more than that.


I absolutely think Randall would've helped in the Pitt game. A 3rd string QB was able to hit on long throws to his backup-caliber WRs. Randall is better than Redwine (and I'll be upfront, I don't put much weight behind Redwine being our highest rated defender... that just tells me that everyone pretty much sucked). Put those two things together, and I think Randall would've helped if he were out there. And before you say it, I'm not necessarily blaming Kitchens for Randall not being out there. Rumors around the 'whys' may or may not be true. If they're true, then I blame Randall.

I agree with your statement ... the more ammo you can bring to the fight the better, but my point in my previous post was ... that imo it would not have altered the outcome of the game.

They should ask him if he even wants to return and does he even want to be here now. If he doesn't want to return, then it definitely wouldn't affect his opinion, would it?

Here's video of the Randall meeting with the press....

the Packers were willing to trade him for Kizer after drafting him pretty high.. that shows how much THEY thought of him...

If it's about the money, I don't know what he wants but if it's above average for a safety, it's probably not worth it. I mean, he's not horrible, certainly brings more value to a team than does Kizer... but he's not good enough to demand major money or to put up with his BS..

If it's about the cold, that speaks to what a lot of us have been saying for a while now.. this team is mentally soft. This is where veteran leadership needs to step in and I'm not sure who that person is for the Browns.. Schobert?

My point was actually that while he's been here he has been a much better asset than Kizer would have been. Even a short term rental that doesn't suck was better than keeping Kizer holding a clip board.

IMO Kizer would have been cut. We got something for nothing. I'll take that every time.

Exactly. It's why I can agree with people that don't see him on our roster for much longer, but then immediately start arguing when people question why he was brought here.

Oh, I agree with that, but I'm sure when we traded for him, the intention was not for it to be a one year rental. But he's making top 10 safety money this year IIRC.. and he's not worth that even when playing and not whining... so I'm not sure what he's asking for but I would imagine it's more than most teams are going to be willing to spend. Especially the Browns, we have several, much more valuable, pieces that are going to want to be paid in the next couple years so to overpay an average producing safety is probably not in the plans.

Randall isn't making anywhere near top 10 money. His contract was for 4 years for a total of $7,915,734 so his average yearly salary is $1,978,934 He's not even sniffing top 50 money for a safety.