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BEREA – Jadeveon Clowney has already played his last game of the season with the Cleveland Browns. It’s also probably his last game with them.
On Saturday, the Browns officially kicked Clowney out of Sunday’s season finale at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The former All-Pro defensive end will not travel with the team for the game, meaning fourth-round rookie pick Alex Wright will make his fifth start of the season.
Linebacker Storey Jackson and defensive end Sam Kamara were also elevated from the practice squad to the game roster.
The decision was the latest act in a weekend drama that developed after Clowney, an unrestricted free agent after this season, made inflammatory remarks in an interview with Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot on Thursday. These remarks not only spoke to his future with the team, but also took a beating from the Browns coaching staff, particularly for what he perceived as favoritism in the plans devised for his teammate, All- Pro and Myles Garrett.
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Clowney attended a defensive line meeting on Friday but was later sent home. Coach Kevin Stefanski wouldn’t comment on Clowney’s status against the Steelers when asked about it after practice.
“I think you know me and know what I’m talking about,” Stefanski said. “I will keep all these discussions internal. What I would say to you is that nothing comes above the team.”
The commentary and ensuing discipline by the team was the latest act in a drama with the former No. 1 overall pick that seemed to start in Week 7 when the Browns lost to the Ravens of Baltimore. In that game, Clowney – who had missed three of the previous four games with an ankle injury – played just 23 of a possible 64 defensive snaps (36%), registering one quarterback hit.
On Friday, defensive line coach Chris Kiffin confirmed that Clowney would not enter the game except on third downs. His frustration apparently stemmed from a decision that game to reverse sides for both ends played, with Garrett lined up at right tackle and Clowney, he believed, receiving a tougher clash with Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley.
“I don’t think I knew until Tuesday, Wednesday that week (after the game),” Garrett said Friday. “Really, it didn’t cross my mind to ask or think about it just because that was my assumption. I was like, it’s not like he wouldn’t play. If he can play, he’s going to come out and play. I mean, that’s also his mindset that we talked about. But, I mean, the proof is in the pudding.
Clowney did not start or appear in the first defensive series the following week, when the Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals on “Monday Night Football,” which Kiffin confirmed Friday was a disciplinary action from the previous game. . He played 36 of 53 possible defensive snaps (68%), recording a solo and an assisted tackle.
The only other game in which Clowney played but did not start was the Browns’ Week 15 home rematch with the Ravens. The Browns started three defensive tackles – Ben Stille, Jordan Elliott and Taven Bryan – with Garrett for that game, although Clowney played 22 snaps before leaving in the second quarter with a concussion.
Clowney has missed four games this season due to injury. There were three in September and October due to a Week 2 ankle injury and then the Christmas Eve game against New Orleans due to concussion protocol.
In 12 games this season, Clowney finished with 28 tackles, including 14 solo, plus two sacks, three quarterback hits and four tackles for loss. He also had a forced fumble, which he also recovered, on a strip-sack.
Clowney signed two one-year contracts with the Browns. He finished with 65 tackles, 11 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, 15 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery in 26 career games at Cleveland.
The unrestricted free agent market officially opens at 4 p.m. on March 15.
