OL Joel Bitonio:
On the impact of offensive line coach Bob Wylie's injury heading into the final two games:
"It is tough, but Hut (assistant offensive line coach Mark Hutson) has done a really good job. We have (offensive quality control) Brian Braswell who works with us, as well. Hut's son has been in the building, as well so all three of those guys have kind of come together and really helped us out and kind of brought us together. It is tough when you lose a head guy and someone that you guys have looked up to and has done a really, really good job for us this year."
On if Wylie will be at the game on Sunday:
"I am not sure. They have not told us yet. He has had surgery, a pretty serious injury so I would not count on it."
On Wylie:
"He is the best. I was saying it the other day, he is seriously one of the best humans that I know. He gives back all of the time. He cares about us as people. He does a good job coaching us, as well. It was tough to see him go down for sure."
On the Browns OL calling Wylie this morning:
"Correct. We just gave him a call on my phone, put him on speakerphone and just said hope you are doing well. He said that the PT (physical therapist) was coming in to see if he could move around a little bit so he had to run, but it was good to hear him and good to see that he was doing well."
On if Wylie's standard humor was present on the call:
"He was in good spirits this morning, but it was not really joking time. He was in good spirits. You could tell that it was bothering him that he was not here. We had out gift exchange scheduled for today, and he was sad that he was going to miss that, but we postponed it so we will figure that out."
DB Jabrill Peppers:
On if he senses some players may not be all in to win the final two games, given QB Baker Mayfield's 'if you don't, get out' comment earlier this week:
"Oh no, not here. We all know what is on the line for us. We know for the playoffs a lot has to happen, but we can still finish this thing with a winning record and I am with him. If you do not want to do that then you can leave, but I have not seen or felt any of that here. I just think he is saying that just so if guys start to… You know what I am saying. There has not been anything like that."
On the significance of finishing with a winning record after last year's results:
"You tell me – to go from not winning a game to a winning record. I think the fans will accept that if we can't get in the playoffs. I still feel as though our record should be better than what it is, but that is the name of the game."
On if he believed this type of turnaround was possible in one year:
"Absolutely, I was not going to go out on a limb and say we are going to make the playoffs or anything like that, but after seeing what is out there in the league after that one year and then gauging how we were during camp, I knew we could make some noise."
On how much better he is playing this year compared to last year:
"I could still be playing a lot better, but in terms of comparing to last year, it is night and day. I learned a lot last year my first year playing free safety. Mistakes are going to happen. It is just those mistakes are magnified. I took it on the chin and I just applied my lessons to this year. It definitely helped."
On expecting a strong turnout from the fans this weekend:
"I told you all in what Week 3 or Week 4 – watch the narrative be flipped. Remember I kept saying that? It is expected. It is the last home game, the last time they can see us until next year and they are excited about what we have been doing and how that is going to carry over into next year. I am excited to go out there and win in front of the home crowd again and keep this ball rolling."
OL Kevin Zeitler:
On offensive line coach Bob Wylie's injury:
"Just walking to the next drill, heard a loud pop and a scream. It is very unfortunate. You never want to see that happen. Especially as players and coaches, you are with each other all of the time. It is unfortunate. We wish he heals up quickly. He has already joked with us. He wants to be on the sideline for the game already. Hopefully, that happens."
On if the team immediately knew the injury was significant:
"Yeah, you knew it was not right. That is the simplest way to put it. We have heard from Bob. He said he is OK. I am sure that we will learn more as everything gets revealed to us."
On when Wylie will return to the team:
"I have heard rumors, but we have not heard anything official from the doctors or anyone."
On Wylie's injury:
"It was not pretty. I do not know what happened, but it did not look pretty."
On it being hard to see Wylie sustain the injury:
"Yeah, a player-coach relationship and then just you never want to see that happen to anyone. Player, coach, person on the sideline, you never want to see that. Speedy recovery."
