Mike Pettine lays down the truth on Terrelle Pryor
By Thomas Moore
Aug 13, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor (87) plays catch on the sideline in a preseason NFL football game against the Washington Redskins at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine met with the media on Friday and laid down some hard truths about the team’s decision to release wide receiver Terrelle Pryor.
“Terrelle was a guy that we held on to largely because of his potential. We viewed that spot as the 53rd roster spot and there was a lot of debate over it,” Pettine explained. “Terrelle certainly has the ability to make the transition to receiver. We were hopeful that we were going to be able to have that time to do it, but that, to me, is viewed as a luxury.
Related: Time to end the Terrelle Pryor charade
“I have enough things on my plate dealing in things that actually happened, but the fact is that (Pryor) wasn’t (healthy) and that he was not prepared at this point to be a viable productive member.” – Head coach Mike Pettine on Terrelle Pryor
“Given where we were when we looked at our running back room, given our circumstances and having always been a Robert Turbin fan, just admiring how he plays and the mentality he takes to the field, that was an opportunity that we felt we couldn’t pass up.
“(We) understand that he won’t be available for upwards of a month but that was something that we were willing to deal with. A lot of this league is about timing. Will Terrelle Pryor be successful in the NFL at wide out? There’s a pretty good chance of that, but just given the timing for us, it just wasn’t right.”
So basically the Browns viewed Pryor as a free roster spot. If someone better came along, in this case Turbin, then Pryor would be an easy cut. And if not? Then just make Pryor a weekly inactive until someone better did come along.
As for those fans who thought the Browns should keep a player on the just to “see what he can do” – even if that player did absolutely nothing during training camp or the preseason – well, Pettine had an answer for that as well.
“We deal in reality, he wasn’t healthy all camp,” Pettine said of Pryor. “I have enough things on my plate dealing in things that actually happened, but the fact is that he wasn’t and that he was not prepared at this point to be a viable productive member – I’m not saying that he never will be, I’m very confident that he will be knowing his work ethic, knowing his skill set, he will be – like I said, its timing and its circumstances.”
Related: Cleveland Browns awarded Terrelle Pryor off waivers
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We’d like to say we’re surprised at all the crying over a team releasing their seventh-best wide receiver and the last guy on the roster, but we saw this coming when the Browns first signed Pryor.
There are too many Browns fans who think that just because a player went to Ohio State they should get a free pass onto the Browns’ roster. (Just see the nonsense that is the “Fail for Cardale” movement.)
The Browns could have avoided all this, of course, by simply not taking the bait when Pryor was released this spring by Cincinnati, but that is water under the bridge now.
Pryor turning himself into a viable NFL wide receiver over the course of just a single summer of practice was always a long shot. His inability to get on the field during the preseason, or even onto the practice field, only made those odds even longer.
And since this is Cleveland, we all know that long shots never pay off.