BEREA, Ohio _ Browns offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens made it clear Thursday he has the back of rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, even if his allegiance comes at the expense of a fellow member of the NFL coaching fraternity.
Kitchens passionately defended the postgame comments Mayfield made Sunday, when the No. 1 overall draft pick explained he "didn't feel like talking" to former Browns coach Hue Jackson because he had a problem with Jackson joining the Cincinnati Bengals as a special assistant to Marvin Lewis on Nov. 13 after being fired by Cleveland on Oct. 29.
Mayfield kept his handshakes with Jackson brief before and after the Browns defeated the Bengals, 35-20, to snap a 25-game road losing streak and win consecutive games for the first time since 2014.
"I don't have a problem with Baker saying anything like that," Kitchens said during his weekly news conference. "The guy spoke what he felt to be true, and I don't know when it became big news to speak the truth. OK?
"If that's what he feels, then he should voice it. I mean, "Hard Knocks" is in here. Everybody's looking for a story. Well, he's giving you a story. He's telling you the truth. Everybody's wanting an inside look of the truth. Well, hell, that's the truth.
"But suddenly it's big news if we don't want to turn it into a Kumbaya after the game and turn it into fist-bumps and hugs. I don't think Baker disrespected anybody on what he said."
ESPN analyst and former NFL offensive lineman Damien Woody disagrees with Kitchens and said Monday on "First Take" Mayfield "needs to grow up." Woody also argued Mayfield is a hypocrite for ripping Jackson because the quarterback transferred from Texas Tech to Oklahoma.
Mayfield responded to Woody and took shots at Jackson with the following Instagram comment: "Not even comparable ... I didn't lose 30+ games be fake and then do that ... I wasn't gonna have a scholarship (at Texas Tech). Good try though buddy."
Kitchens said he was unaware of Mayfield calling Jackson "fake" on social media.
"I don't know anything about that, so I'm not going to speak for that," Kitchens said. "But, again, I promise you this: Baker's not going to blow smoke up anybody's ass. So if he said it, that's what he feels, and I'm standing behind Baker Mayfield."
On Wednesday, Mayfield said he didn't regret blasting Jackson but stopped short of explaining why he called the coach fake.
"There's things that happened inside the building," Mayfield said, "but there's no reason to get into detail with it."
