{"id":8788,"date":"2025-01-01T23:43:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T23:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=8788"},"modified":"2025-01-01T23:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T23:43:15","slug":"how-browns-guard-joel-bitonio-will-factor-his-most-frustrating-season-into-decision-on-his-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=8788","title":{"rendered":"How Browns guard Joel Bitonio will factor his \u2018most frustrating\u2019 season into decision on his future"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Cleveland<\/p>\n

BEREA, Ohio \u2014 Nothing has changed as far as Browns left guard Joel Bitonio\u2019s status for the future goes. He hasn\u2019t made a decision on if 2024 will be his final season or if he\u2019ll be back for at least one more ride. He\u2019ll wait until there\u2019s some distance from a disappointing season.<\/p>\n

\u201cTruthfully, I\u2019ve been very frustrated the last few weeks,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cI just didn\u2019t expect us to be in this position. You come out here and you\u2019re playing for pride, you\u2019re playing for your own r\u00e9sum\u00e9, your own worth, and as a team, it\u2019s tough to be in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was supposed to be a special year for Bitonio and the Browns, a season where all those other frustrating seasons were washed away. He\u2019s endured losing and, even when the Browns won a playoff game, he was sidelined with COVID-19. Last year, when the Browns lost in Houston in the wild card round, he was just trying to hold his body together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a pretty bad high (ankle) sprain. I tore the UCL in my elbow in that game and I tried to finish the game,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cBut that was like eight-weeks off, and I was like, \u2018Oh my god, I shouldn\u2019t have played on my ankle. But it was the last game.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year it seemed like that was going to change, but it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the expectations this year, and then where we ended up, have made it the most frustrating,\u201d Bitonio said.<\/p>\n

When he arrived in the league in 2014, the Browns started 7-4 \u2014 they ultimately collapsed and finished 7-9 \u2014 but Bitonio has admitted he initially thought maybe winning in the NFL was easy. It didn\u2019t take long for him to find out it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The Browns went 3-13 the following season, leading into their 1-31 run in 2016 and 2017. The lack of expectations, however, eased the frustration, at least compared to what the Browns have been through in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly in my career, I didn\u2019t really know any better my first couple years,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then when we were in the real rebuild, we were such a young team that it wasn\u2019t even like, there wasn\u2019t expectations to make the playoffs or do anything like that. We thought we could \u2014 we were so young, you don\u2019t know any better. But I think with what the expectations were this year, it\u2019s probably been the most frustrating results-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitonio has tasted some success, being a part of two 11-win playoff teams in the last five years, which has only made this year more difficult. The losing can take its toll and it\u2019s one of the things Bitonio will consider when it finally does come time to make a decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some games where you wake up Monday morning and I\u2019m like, \u2018Crap, why am I doing this?\u2019 You lost, you feel terrible, your body hurts,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then there\u2019s other times where it\u2019s like you play a game and you\u2019re like I can still play at a high level and I want to see what our team can do in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"How<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Bitonio will get a chance to have his say in the future of the franchise this weekend after the Browns play the Ravens on Saturday. They will clean out their lockers and have exit meetings on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll meet with head coach Kevin Stefanski and GM Andrew Berry and possibly ownership to go over the season as part of the normal exit meeting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have my chance to let them know what I think is going on and they actually listen very well,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cThey ask guys, they want to know the thought process and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The good news is Bitonio doesn\u2019t think the Browns are all that far off.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had injuries this year, but I think the rosters are similar (between last year and this year),\u201d he said. \u201cI know they\u2019re going to have to rebuild some aspects of the roster, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s far. I think Coach Stefanski is a good coach. I think we\u2019re going to have a good system in place. It comes down to executing, it comes down to doing your one-eleventh, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re that far off from being a contender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitonio admitted that, if part of the team\u2019s plan to returning to contention involves him coming back, it would serve as one of the factors in his final decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to hear the plans, you want to hear what\u2019s going on, you want to know how you feel,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s all just part of the big question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitonio, 33, has a lot to think about, from football to family considerations, once he does sit down and start thinking through things. Team success is always a part of it, especially after such a frustrating year, but that\u2019s one thing that\u2019s out of a left guard\u2019s control.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think of John Elway going out and winning the Super Bowl, (former Bengals and Rams tackle) Andrew Whitworth, they got to play in their last game in the Super Bowl and ride off into the sunset,\u201d Bitonio said. \u201cThat\u2019d be the ultimate dream, and I bet if it had been two years ago and we won a Super Bowl, I probably would have been like, \u2018all right, I\u2019m good to go.\u2019 And so it\u2019s the thing that you fight for. So it\u2019s all part of it. It\u2019s all part of the process. The season, your teammates. Winning and losing. How you feel. All of that goes into every decision you make.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Browns guard Joel Bitonio called 2024 his most frustrating season but thinks the Browns still have a bright future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Browns guard Joel Bitonio will factor his \u2018most frustrating\u2019 season into decision on his future - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=8788\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Browns guard Joel Bitonio will factor his \u2018most frustrating\u2019 season into decision on his future - 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