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BEREA – Jadeveon Clowney played his final game of the season for the Cleveland Browns. This is probably his last game with them.
The Browns on Saturday officially excluded Clowney from Sunday’s season finale at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The former All-Pro defenseman will not travel with the team to the game, meaning fourth-round rookie Alex Wright will make his fifth start this season.
Linebacker Storey Jackson and defenseman Sam Kamara were also moved from the practice team to the matchday roster.
The decision was the latest act in the end-of-week drama that unfolded after Clowney, an unrestricted free agent after this season, made inflammatory remarks in an interview with Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot on Thursday. These remarks not only spoke of his future on the team, but also fired at the Browns coaching staff, particularly for what he perceived as favoritism in plans designed for his All-Pro teammate Myles Garrett.
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Clowney attended the backline meeting on Friday but was sent home. Coach Kevin Stefanski declined to comment on Clowney’s status against the Steelers when asked after training.
“I think you know me and you know what I mean,” Stefanski said. “I’m going to keep all these internal discussions. I would tell you that nothing is above the band.”
The comments and subsequent discipline issued by the team was the final act of drama with the former No. 1 overall, which began in Week 7 when the Browns lost to the Baltimore Ravens. In that game, Clowney – who missed three of his previous four games due to an ankle injury – played only 23 out of a possible 64 snaps on defense (36%), recording one quarterback hit.
On Friday, defensive line coach Chris Kiffin confirmed that Clowney would not enter the game except for his third fall. His frustration apparently stemmed from the decision that this match had the sides played by both ends reversed, with Garrett lined up over a right tackle and Clowney, he believed, getting a tougher matchup with the Ravens’ left tackle Ronnie Stanley.
“I can’t believe I knew about it until Tuesday, Wednesday this week (after the game),” Garrett said on Friday. “It really didn’t occur to me to ask or think about it just because that was my assumption. I thought it wasn’t like he wouldn’t play. If he can play, he will go out there and play. I mean, that was his mindset that we talked about. But I mean, the proof is in the pudding.
Clowney did not start or appear in the first defensive series the following week when the Browns defeated the Cincinnati Bengals on “Monday Night Football”, which Kiffin confirmed Friday was a disciplinary measure from the previous game. He played 36 of 53 possible defensive snaps (68%), recording one solo and one assist.
The only other game Clowney played in but did not start was the Browns Week 15 home rematch with the Ravens. The Browns started three tackles on defense – Ben Stille, Jordan Elliott and Taven Bryan – along with Garrett in that game, although Clowney played 22 snaps before leaving the field in the second quarter with a concussion.
Clowney missed four games that season due to injury. There were three in September and October due to an ankle injury in week two, followed by a Christmas Eve game against New Orleans due to a concussion.
In 12 games that season, Clowney finished with 28 tackles, including 14 solo tackles, plus two sacks, three point guard hits, and four tackles for a loss. He also had a forced fumble, which he also recovered, on a sack belt.
Clowney signed two one-year contracts with the Browns. He finished with 65 tackles, 11 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, 15 tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in 26 career games for Cleveland.
The Unlimited Free Agent Market will officially open on March 15 at 16:00.
