Freddie Kitchens must lean on Jarvis Landry’s leadership to right the ship

Freddie Kitchens spoke to the media on Monday morning, and some of his comments proved he needs help from Jarvis Landry and others to right the ship.

There was a theme to Freddie Kitchens’ presser on Monday morning; this team is a talented group of players, and that is a problem. Through six games the Cleveland Browns (2-4) are a group, not a team.

But it may be deeper than that. The Browns are tied for first in the NFL with 57 penalties and they’re first in the league with 506 penalty yards. We can preface that by saying penalties like the blind, blindside block are added to that total, but nonetheless the penalties play a major role in the early season struggles.

Kitchens’ other theme as he spoke to the media was executing during critical moments of the game. Many believe Kitchens is the biggest problem in that regard. Running the ball on a 4th and 9. Not giving it to Nick Chubb on four consecutive snaps inside the 5-yard line. This weeks most recent blunder of moving too fast during a two-minute drill that resulted in an interception and a potential nine- or 13-point swing just before halftime.

More from Dawg Pound Daily

• How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
• Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
• 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
• Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
• 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target

Kitchens called out a player for running a route not in the playbook at all. He wouldn’t name the player, but it was to emphasize his point that this is a group, not a team. Players going out and doing their own thing is a sign of lack of trust with coaching.

It’s the head coach’s job to mold a group of individuals into a team. Penalties are a sign of an undisciplined ball club. Lack of execution in key moments is a sign of lack of preparation. The theme here is coaching is supposed to fix all of the above.

Insert Jarvis Landry. He started his presser explaining why he left the locker room before talking to the media on Sunday afternoon. He says he didn’t want to let emotions take over in the immediate minutes following the game so he waited until he was level-headed. He spoke to the media and didn’t throw any teammate under the bus although he had several chances.

He didn’t blame balls being thrown behind him. He didn’t blame penalties. He was not enthusiastic about the referees, but he stopped short of blaming them. Jarvis knows what it takes. He’s passionate, yet level-headed.

When the coaches can’t get things right, it’s up to the players. Landry has spoken up before. He’s a professional in the way he prepares, plays, and speaks to the media. A veteran player has to take lead of the Browns to get this turned around. Kitchens is learning but the learning curve has proven to be too steep for him.

It seems clear that Freddie is a year or two ahead of his time to be an NFL head coach. The players must step in to right the ship. The player that needs to lead that charge must be Jarvis Landry.