Browns OL Joel Bitonio talks with reporters on January 4, 2024.
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00:00 I know you guys have a tough job to do, so trying to help out any way we can, but it's appreciated and thank you.
00:08 [inaudible]
00:15 You know, I'm not sure yet. I know Coach has a plan for that, and he's kind of having everybody just like prepare for the week and see where we're at, you know, come tomorrow or Saturday.
00:25 But it is a nice position to be in where we need to relax guys. We have that ability to relax guys and get their bodies right for the playoffs.
00:35 [inaudible]
00:47 Yeah, I mean, anytime you get recognized, it's a great honor. And that's, you know, coaches, players, fans all voted for that.
00:56 I'm appreciative of it. You know, Coach kind of mentioned yesterday, especially Lyman, it's such a group award.
01:03 You're playing with guys like Coop and the cheer forward and David and Joe who are making great plays.
01:09 They help us, you know, look good. We try and help them look good. But it's an honor. And, you know, at 6, I told Dan, you know, said something about the fourth most in Browns history.
01:20 And the names above it, you know, Lou Groza, Jim Brown, Joe Thomas, I was like, that's a pretty special company.
01:26 That was the one that kind of like made me go, wow, like, this is pretty cool. Because you live in the moment from season to season.
01:32 And you try and take it one game at a time. But like, anytime you get recognized, it's a great honor.
01:38 And, you know, we'll see about the other stuff. I'm just trying to do the best we can this year. And we'll go from there.
01:45 [inaudible]
01:49 Put that on the resume.
01:51 [inaudible]
01:53 Yeah.
01:55 [inaudible]
02:07 Yeah, I thought we had a lot of guys that deserve recognition. But David was one that I was, you know, a couple weeks ago, I was like, man, I really hope to make my throw ball this year.
02:15 Because he's deserved it. He's worked.
02:18 The person he is, and he came in as a 20 year old, you know, like, I don't know what you expect a 20 year old to do when you're first round draft pick.
02:26 But I know Coach DeFrancis talked about it, but the way he's matured, the way he's been a core part of this team, and one of our leaders, one of our playmakers,
02:35 it's a special little run he's been on, catching passes and making plays for us.
02:40 I was so pumped for him when I heard he made it because of just the change he's made, you know, I mean, I don't know how many times he asked for a trade or wanted to get out of here.
02:47 And it takes time to learn and develop. And he's done all those things. So for him, I know that was that was really special.
02:55 So, you had the back, you had the knee, I got the knee. This is beat up, if you remember.
03:02 Yeah, it's just one thing after another for me, you know, certain things.
03:07 I don't know if it's like a domino effect with the knee and, you know, everything kind of works together and it adds on.
03:14 Luckily for me, I've been able to play through most of it, you know what I mean?
03:18 But yeah, the, you know, just the body being beat up, like you're always beat up, you know what I mean?
03:25 But these are things that are, you know, kind of just like, dang, that's annoying me right now.
03:29 But hopefully, like, you know, we get this little stretch here and we get the body as good as possible going into the playoffs and really make a run at it.
03:37 I know they didn't make it per se, but the fact that you and Ryan were named alternates, how cool is it that the entire interior of this offense is playing at a high level?
03:56 Yeah, it's great. I mean, those guys are playing at a high level. They're competing every day.
04:01 You know, we wanted to be one of the stronger lines in the league.
04:07 You lose your top three, four tackles, but the inside three, I think, has stayed healthy for the most part.
04:13 You know, Wyatt's played every snap so far this year. He's done a good job.
04:16 Poe, I think, has gotten his chance to prove that he's a good center in this league.
04:20 And it's so tough with the Pros because I think you're going to top five centers in the NFC and I think look at their play and it's like all of them are very similar.
04:27 It's just kind of who got the vote here or there to get in. Same with the guards.
04:31 I mean, we know Wyatt's a great player and he's made some awesome blocks for us over the years.
04:36 And, you know, hopefully those guys get a chance to get recognized as well.
04:40 But like you said, being an alternate is big. You know, I'll shout out JOK too.
04:45 And Dustin, I think both those guys truly deserve to get in.
04:49 You know, obviously, Jeff Zucker is one of the greatest figures of all time.
04:53 I think if you look at Dustin's body of work, the game winners, the 50-yard plus, he's done such a good job for us this year.
05:02 And he's part of a lot of those wins. And then you get like JOK.
05:07 He plays outside linebacker off the ball and he's in the same voting group as guys that are great players.
05:13 DJ Watt and Gray Henderson. But they just play different positions, you know.
05:16 And so it's hard for those guys to get recognition. I'm glad he got some recognition.
05:20 But yeah, it's one of those things where you want to see as many of your guys get recognition as possible because it means the team's doing pretty well.
05:29 Yeah, it was great. You know, running out of the tunnel was pretty cool with the lights out and, you know, all the lights going on, the light show.
05:49 And then I don't think the crowd ever got quiet. Like it was so loud when we were on the bench waiting and some of those big plays that Blacko made.
05:57 It was a pretty awesome experience. And then we go to the playoffs after that. I think everybody stuck around.
06:03 It was very fun. It's definitely up there. It's definitely, you know, one of the top atmospheres for home games I've ever been in.
06:13 No, I didn't. You got to be careful with those. You know, he came down with a mysterious illness yesterday.
06:20 So we'll see what happens with that. But no, I think it's just a testament to our fans.
06:25 They've been great all year. And it's truly a home field advantage for us. It was fun to celebrate with them.
06:42 I don't know if we had time to think about it because I feel like like you said, every week it was something new.
06:47 It was some major big, big, you know, debilitating injury. And Coach Fancy was so smooth and even keel about it.
06:55 He never showed us he worried. You know, when Sean went down, obviously we were like, like we had just played our best game, you know,
07:03 off of that second half in Baltimore. We came out with a win and I think we were riding high.
07:07 And there was a second there where it's like, dang, again, you know what I mean? Like we just got to this point.
07:12 So I think everybody, like to a man would say like there was a question at that point.
07:16 But the next day, I think we were ready to roll and we're like, hey, we got a chance to keep winning.
07:21 Our defense is playing great. They got to keep it up. And, you know, now Seth Blackwell here and he's played amazing football.
07:29 But it's just been the next man up all year. And it's such a cliche, but when it's when it's part of your culture, it's not a cliche anymore.
07:38 Why did you get fit in?
07:44 I think he's just a good guy, a good person. He loves playing ball and he wants to win.
07:48 And all those things make it easy to fit in, you know. You know, they say winning cures all in that sense.
07:56 But he's been great from the start. He's easy to talk to. He has so many stories, had so much experiences that I think the locker room just wanted to gravitate to that.
08:07 You think that the structure of the playoffs worries everybody enough to get the team sort of finished and get into a position where you can play with your highest scores?
08:26 It's something to think about. You know, you could have the division winners get in the playoffs no matter what, but just kind of reseed it to be best record.
08:47 That gives people something to play for later in the year. You know, your division is kind of one of those things that's the goal. You want to win your division, that gets you a ticket automatically.
08:57 But it would be nice, you know, like you said, we have the second best record in the AFC right now. It'd be great to have a home playoff game in those situations.
09:05 But, you know, the team we're going to play, it's going to win their division. And that's always tough to do too.
09:10 So I see both sides of it, but I wouldn't be opposed to them looking to adjust it where the better record might get home field advantage or something of that nature.
09:19 Thanks guys.