Shelby Harris gets brutally honest about Browns season in latest Hard Knocks

The AFC North has been getting the Hollywood treatment this season, with Max picking up a mid-season series on them for the latest iteration of Hard Knocks.

Two episodes in, and it's been great to see just how hard nosed not just the Cleveland Browns but the entire division is despite such varying records more than halfway through the season. In the show's latest episode, the Browns were a big focal point as the show had to cover both their loss to the Denver Broncos in primetime and their subsequent loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14.

But, before the loss was shown, the show revealed what the meeting between the defensive linemen on the Browns looked like ahead of the big divisional matchup - one that would dictate their elimination from the postseason.

Read more: 2025 NFL Draft order: Browns back in mix for top pick after loss to Steelers

While head coach Kevin Stefanski was preaching throughout episode two the importance of continuing to play hard, it was clear from the meeting that some of the team had already accepted reality - Cleveland was likely not headed to the playoffs.

Shelby Harris gets real with defensive line ahead of Week 14 game against Steelers

In a meeting between the Browns D-line and defensive line coach Jacques Cesaire, Cesaire encouraged the D-line to speak up about what would be necessary to beat the Steelers in Week 14 on the road. Myles Garrett spoke first, saying that they just had to find their "why" ahead of the contest and couldn't just simply go out for a win.

"You gotta play for something. Pride, or those individual accolades, your brother next to you. You gotta find something. You gotta find a 'why' for these last five games to mean something to you," said Garrett to the room.

But, it was Harris' comments that would surely stick with the D-line after Week 14 and for the rest of the season.

"I'm just gonna be honest with y'all - you know what it is. When you get to a part of the season like this, you're not just playing for this year, you're playing for next year. You're playing for your life in the league. You know, team's going to evaluate all of this s--- and look and see who you are, if they need to go draft somebody in your position, if they need to let you go and bring somebody else in."

Harris added "this is the honest truth about it - this is the evaluation period. This is not the time to let s--- down. This is actually the time to raise your play and show you could be the guy. That you are the solution, not part of the problem. This is what they're looking at. This is just the God's honest truth. These next couple of weeks are truly just an audition. An audition to see who the f--- is gonna be here. This is our NFL livelihoods."

Harris is a 10 year veteran of the league on his fourth team. He knows exactly what he's talking about when speaking to this reality. .

The younger members of the D-line, such as Ogbo Okoronkwo, Jowon Briggs and Isaiah McGuire needed to be served this check in the face of such a big Week 14 game. And now, with the loss official and with no postseason for Cleveland, they'll be prepared for the next four games of the year, all thanks to Harris' words

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