The Cleveland Browns are on the road in primetime for Week 2, a Monday Night Football appearance the team flagged for months.
But penalties — 18 of them in Sunday’s 43-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans at home — had the Browns licking their wounds one week before they take on the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Penalties and a lack of discipline, head coach Freddie Kitchens said, doomed the Browns.
“What we have to do right now is refrain from overreacting,” Kitchens said. “It’s one game. We’re going to continue to make corrections from a discipline standpoint and a lack of composure standpoint. We will get better next week and see where we’re at.”
The Browns haven’t won Week 1 since 2005 (0-14-1).
Baker Mayfield was intercepted three times and under constant pressure. The Titans had five sacks.
If there was a silver lining as the day went on Sunday, two other AFC North teams took losses with the Cincinnati Bengals coming up short in Seattle and the Pittsburgh Steelers taking it on the chin at New England. The Baltimore Ravens whipped the Miami Dolphins 59-10.
As the Browns look to turn the page, Kitchens said Mayfield and coaches will be better.
Kitchens said he got the needed response from players in practice on Monday.
“We’ve got to recognize the problem, then rectify the problem. That’s how you get better as a football team,” Kitchens said.
Kitchens said Sunday that the adversity would test his team. The first-time head coach said Cleveland would “find out what kind of team we have now.”
The sharp-tongued Mayfield invited naysayers to exit the Browns’ bandwagon.
“Because everybody is going to throw us in the trash, and I think that’s good,” Mayfield said. “I know what type of men we have in this locker room and quite frankly, I really don’t give a damn what happens on the outside. I know how we’re gonna react, I know what we’re gonna do, how we’re gonna bounce back.”