Freddie Kitchens: Don’t overreact to one game in a 16-game schedule

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Cleveland coach Freddie Kitchens doesn’t want a 43-13 Week One loss to make people think these are the same old Browns.

Kitchens acknowledged today that his team committed far too many penalties in Sunday’s loss to the Titans, but he denied that that’s a reflection on what kind of team they’re going to be this year.

“What we have to refrain from doing right now is overreacting,” Kitchens said. “It’s one game in a 16-game schedule. We’re very disappointed in the lack of discipline we showed, the loss of composure that we showed at times, and just overall not doing a good enough job from a coaching perspective and a player perspective to get the job done in a positive manner. The atmosphere was incredible for that game, for an opening game, a day game, all those sort of things, really, I’ve never been in that type of atmosphere before, and that’s a testament to our fans. We’re going to continue to make corrections in how we prepare from a discipline standpoint and a lack of composure standpoint. I think that put us in some bad situations that we were not able to overcome.”

Kitchens also vowed, “We will get better next week.”

They’d better. The Browns were the most hyped team in the NFL during the offseason, and they laid an egg in Week One. Next week they have the Jets on Monday night, and the schedule only gets harder after that, with the Rams and Ravens up next. An 0-2 start could quickly snowball to 0-4, and at that point, it would be hard not to overreact.