The retirement of Joe Thomas left a gaping hole at left tackle for the Cleveland Browns.
Left guard Joel Bitonio is willing James Burgess Jersey , but not necessarily eager to succeed his close friend at the position.
”If they want me to do that, like, cool, whatever makes the Browns better,” Bitonio said. ”But I think left tackle is the toughest spot on the line, and after playing left guard for four years, going on five now, it would definitely be different.
”I don’t think it’s a thing where I have to volunteer for the spot, but if we get down the line and something needs to happen, we’ll see what happens there.”
Though Bitonio isn’t a household name outside of Cleveland, he is one of a handful of known quantities on a team that went winless in 2017 and is 1-31 in two seasons under coach Hue Jackson.
The 6-foot-4, 305-pounder was a second alternate for the Pro Bowl and did not miss a play last year, helping the Browns average 4.46 yards per rush to rank sixth in the NFL.
Offensive line coach Bob Wylie acknowledged that bumping Bitonio Ryan Griffin Jersey , an All-Mountain West left tackle at Nevada, to the outside is tempting, but not palatable because it would simultaneously create a weakness at guard.
”The state of the left tackle is our state of the union,” Wylie said. ”But (moving Bitonio) is the last option. If you were going to go from A down, that would be Z. That would be Z.”
Thomas was the face of the franchise for 11 seasons, earning 10 Pro Bowl selections and playing 10,363 consecutive snaps before suffering a career-ending torn left triceps last Oct. 22 against Tennessee.
Third-year pro Shon Coleman has the first shot to fill his shoes, while second-rounder Austin Corbett and former No. 2 overall pick Greg Robinson are in the mix. Coleman was pulled off the field Sunday during practice and received an audible scolding by Jackson.
Center JC Tretter, right guard Kevin Zeitler and Bitonio each expressed hope that one of the top three candidates can win the job and keep their three-man interior unit intact.
”I’m excited to work with them again and, hopefully, be a dominant inside group,” said Bitonio, a second-round selection by Cleveland in 2014. ”I’ve become really good friends with JC and Kevin Jamon Brown Jersey , so we’re kind of bonding and I think the sky is the limit. We’re continuing to grow together.”
Tretter said the uncertainty at left tackle hasn’t affected Bitonio during training camp, nor does he expect it to, because he is a ”real pro.”
Jackson wants to make a decision before the Browns’ third preseason game on Aug. 23 against the Eagles, putting Coleman on the hot seat to produce or force the staff to contemplate option Z.
”I know that Joel will do anything for the football team, but hopefully we do not have to go to that,” Jackson said. ”But if we do, we do. Once we get a feel for what we have there, then as a group we’ve got to make a decision on how to continue to move forward.”
Bitonio is hoping for the best, and hoping to stay where he feels most comfortable. All 47 of his NFL games have been played as a starting left guard.
”Right now, I’m really focused on playing left guard and trying to get whoever is playing next to me ready to play left tackle,” he said. ”I think anything else is something that’s pretty far down the line.”
NOTES
Rookie QB Baker Mayfield impressed Jackson with several sharp passes. ”Baker is deadly accurate with the ball,” the coach said. ”He’s an outstanding listener who has been everything a quarterback can be for an organization so far.” . DE Myles Garrett, the top overall pick in 2017 Shaq Lawson Jersey , and RB Duke Johnson were given the day off, along with LB Jamie Collins. WR Corey Coleman also was scheduled to rest, but declined the offer. . Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel attended the late afternoon practice.
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Braden Holtby spun around and saw the puck on the goal line. Maybe it was in. Maybe it wasn’t.
But after mounting another two-goal lead and this time building on it instead of blowing it, the Washington Capitals made sure it wasn’t close enough for one questionable call either way to make a difference. With fresh memories of coughing up that same lead in Game 1, this time they took it to the Pittsburgh Penguins and emerged with a 4-1 victory in Game 2 to tie the second-round series.
”You can see what happen last game when we get the lead 2-0 and they come back and win the game,” said Alex Ovechkin, who scored his seventh goal of the playoffs. ”They’re experienced team, they’re not going to give up and they’re not gonna give easy play for us. We have to earn it. Today I think we play a solid game, everybody was in and we get the result.”
It was a result that came with controversy and a potentially significant aftermath as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion-Penguins came out on the wrong side of a coach’s challenge, the NHL’s video review on what would have been their second goal and lost defenseman Brian Dumoulin after a hit to the head by Tom Wilson.
Holtby stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced to frustrate the Penguins, robbing captain Sidney Crosby and linemate Jake Guentzel with sliding pad saves to continue his strong play in the postseason.
The Penguins thought he should’ve allowed one more goal to Patric Hornqvist in the third period. No definitive replays showing the puck over the goal line and Wilson’s hit that injured Dumoulin left them steaming but also kicking themselves for starting slow and falling behind again.
”They won the game in the first period,” Hornqvist said. ”I don’t think we played our best game. … They were all over us.”
After blowing three two-goal leads through the first seven games of the playoffs, Washington at least temporarily solved that problem. Ovechkin beat Matt Murray 1:26 in Maliek Collins Jersey , Jakub Vrana scored on the power play later in the first period and, unlike Game 1, the Capitals made it 3-0 when Brett Connolly scored on a breakaway early in the second.
”Game 1 it was tough, we played a really good game I think and they just kind of found a way to get some breaks and score some timely goals,” Connolly said. ”We learned from that this time around.”
The Capitals are learning some about Murray, having now scored all five of their goals against him in this series glove side. He made 18 of his 28 saves in the first period and had to in order to keep Washington from turning this into a blowout.
Murray was not the least bit happy when the league ruled Connolly’s push on him moments before Vrana’s goal was not enough to keep him from being able to make the save.
”Pretty disappointed,” Murray said. ”As a goalie you just want to be able to do your job and when something like that happens and you can’t do it, you just want to see the rule upheld.”
Pittsburgh had an even bigger reason to be angry when Wilson wasn’t penalized for checking Dumoulin in the head with his left shoulder in the second. Dumoulin never returned, could potentially miss Game 3 on Tuesday and Wilson is in danger of being suspended.
”He made contact with his head,” Crosby said. ”Given his history and things like that, I’m sure the league will take a good look at it.”
Wilson watched multiple replays and came away believing there was nothing else he could do on the play because Dumoulin stopped and braced for a hit from Ovechkin at the last second. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said he had an opinion of the hit but declined to share it.
Wilson was already ready to move on.
”It’s a bit of an unfortunate play that he got hurt,” he said. ”We’ll see what happens and we’ll keep moving forward here. There’s more important things going on. We’ve got a team in here that’s pretty good and confident and we’ve got to go to Pittsburgh and get a game.”
NOTES: The Capitals have now killed 22 consecutive penalties dating to Game 2 of their first-round series against Columbus. … Kris Letang scored Pittsburgh’s only goal on a floater from the point in the second period. … The Penguins were without star center Evgeni Malkin for the third consecutive game because of an apparent leg injury. Sullivan said Malkin could return for Game 3. … Ovechkin tied Crosby and Guentzel for the playoff lead in goals. … The Penguins’ streak of road playoff victories ended at six.
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