Cleveland Browns’ Freddie Kitchens talks about the Kareem Hunt situation
By Dan Justik
Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens talked about the Kareem Hunt situation for the first time since the team signed the running back.
Since the Cleveland Browns signed running back Kareem Hunt at the beginning of February, head coach Freddie Kitchens had yet to talk about the situation surrounding the 23-year-old.
At the same time the team announced the signing of Hunt, Browns general manager John Dorsey released a statement and answered questions from the media. Dorsey took the initial blow-back from the situation considering he is the person that makes the final decision of who joins the roster.
That changed on Wednesday when Kitchens took questions from the media at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. When asked about Hunt, Kitchens focused on Hunt the person, not the football player.
#Browns HC Freddie Kitchens on Kareem Hunt: "It's our job to support him to be a better person. At some point, football's gonna end for these guys. It's our job to give them something to do in a good nature, for the 50 years after the fact."
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) February 27, 2019
#Browns HC Freddie Kitchens on Kareem Hunt 2nd chance: "The 2nd chance is not now. He's got a lot of work to do between now and when that 2nd chance comes. We'll see how that goes."
— Keith Britton (@KeithBritton86) February 27, 2019
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It was evident that Kitchens wants Hunt to prove that he is a better person before worrying about what Hunt can provide on the football field. Kitchens believes that Hunt can do that with the Browns because of the support staff the organization has built for the players.
Kitchens’ statements match what Dorsey said initially after signing Hunt. Dorsey said that Hunt has steps to take before he can be relied on for football purposes. In his statement after the signing, Dorsey said Hunt has “a detailed plan with expectations laid out that he understands and must follow, because any similar incident will not be tolerated.”
The biggest difference of Dorsey’s statement and Kitchens’ statements is that Kitchens wants Hunt to prove that he deserves a second chance, while Dorsey believes Hunt has already done enough to warrant a second chance on the football field. However, it seems Kitchens believes Hunt will be able to do so because of the organization’s support staff.
For such a tough situation to discuss, Kitchens handled the questions about Hunt well. It is obvious that Kitchens is not going to guarantee anything for Hunt, despite how talented of a player he is.
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In a follow-up question about Hunt, Kitchens also said that Nick Chubb is his starting running back. He said that it is good to bring in good players and have them compete with each other. He also said that Chubb will not back down from the challenge of fighting off Hunt for the starting job.