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CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 The Browns coaching staff\u2019s decision to rotate right guards Wyatt Teller and Teven Jenkins on Sunday against the 49ers was in the works all week and, as far as left guard Joel Bitonio is concerned, it only brought out what he already knew about Teller.<\/p>\n
\u201cClass act, professional,\u201d Bitonio said on Thursday, discussing the offensive teammate he believes he\u2019s played the most games with during his 12 seasons here.<\/p>\n
The Browns acquired Teller in a trade shortly before the start of the 2019 season. He took over as the starting right guard in Week 9 that season and has been there ever since. Sunday\u2019s game marked his 100th career start.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of games with that guy and I tell people all the time, he\u2019s going to come and work, he\u2019s going to put the team first,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to try his butt off. He\u2019s tough and competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given all that, it\u2019s not surprising that learning he wouldn\u2019t play every snap was tough to take.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo hear that news, obviously you\u2019re devastated,\u201d Bitonio said, \u201cand you want to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Sunday\u2019s game Teller said he got the text he was going to rotate on Tuesday night. When asked if he was given a reason, he said, \u201cProbably along the lines of not playing well enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teller rotated with Jenkins every other series throughout the game until he suffered a calf injury on the second play after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. He will be out this week.<\/p>\n
Bitonio watched his longtime linemate handle it like he\u2019s come to expect him to handle something difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t happy about it,\u201d Bitonio said, \u201cbut I think he came in and he helped Tev and they were talking all week and he worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenkins, after Sunday\u2019s game, had nothing but praise for how Teller helped him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt says a lot about his character. He\u2019s a great man,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cHe really cares about who you are, the person and football player, and he really cares about this team.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision on Sunday speaks to the uncertain futures along the offensive line after this season. Bitonio, Teller, center Ethan Pocic and right tackle Jack Conklin are all free agents after this season. Dawand Jones, who started the year at left tackle before moving to right tackle in Week 3, saw his season end in that game, the third consecutive year he\u2019s suffered a season-ending injury.<\/p>\n
At one point this season, it might have felt like Pocic, 30, and Teller, 31, could both be pieces of the near future. But the decision against the 49ers calls at least Teller\u2019s status into question, even after he proclaimed he hopes to retire as a Brown.<\/p>\n
Bitonio also faces another decision about his future. The 34-year-old former second-round pick seriously considered retirement last season and has admitted he\u2019s year-to-year at this point.<\/p>\n
The up-in-the-air status of much of the offensive line isn\u2019t something that will play a factor into his decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have a whole new lineup if things fall the right way or they can re-sign some guys or things happen,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cBut for me it\u2019s really just going to be, that\u2019s more of a personal decision on it. I think they\u2019ll figure out the guys if they need to go that route.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another season short on wins certainly works against the Browns\u2019 hopes that their stalwart interior lineman returns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re making a Super Bowl run every year, it might be easier to be like, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s go one more,\u2019\u201d he said, pointing to Eagles center Jason Kelce who kept playing in search of one more ring.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s more that goes into it, especially for a player who, even at this late stage in his career, is still playing at a high level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many factors and I think first and foremost it\u2019s just health and body and all that is the main contributor,\u201d Bitonio said, \u201cbut you obviously factor in all those different decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
This week, with Teller out, Jenkins will get the full workload at right guard. Bitonio said he was \u201creally solid\u201d against the 49ers and he was able to move people in the run game. He also said Teller played one of his better games in a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of them were very professional and both I think played really, really well last week,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cSo it was a positive in that aspect, it was a smooth transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was also a sign of more transition to come. Whether that involves Teller, Bitonio, both or neither is still to be determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Browns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns"],"yoast_head":"\n