Browns Handling of Genard Avery Further Proves Freddie Kitchens Has Lost Control

The Cleveland Browns entered the 2019 NFL season with sky-high expectations. The only facet of their franchise that pundits thought might hold them back was the fact that they enlisted Freddie Kitchens to be their rookie head coach, though early reports from his interim duty were glowing.

Uhh...about that...

The Browns are off to a 2-5 start, and it seems like Kitchens is continuing to lose his grasp on the team, especially with how he dealt with disgruntled defensive end Genard Avery, who was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier on Monday.

Avery was a solid contributor to the Browns defense last year as a rookie, playing snaps in all 16 games and contributing 40 tackles to go along with 4.5 sacks. Those are solid numbers that add some much-needed depth to any defensive line.

Then, this season, he was tossed aside, often a healthy scratch, with very little public explanation for the shift in attitude.

Evidently, Kitchens saw no need to keep Avery on the field this time around, as he's played just five defensive snaps all season long. It's surprising to see the Browns give up on such a promising defensive lineman so quickly without giving him an ample opportunity to produce on the field.

For how badly the Browns' defense has played, why hasn't Avery seen the field at all?

There has to be more to this trade than general manager John Dorsey simply shipping off lost goods. This might very well be signaling that Kitchens has lost control of some of his players, and if he's not careful, things could snowball quickly.

At the very least, we're owed an explanation about what went wrong.