Browns Downplay 'Dirty Hit' From Jets Minkah Fitzpatrick

Minkah Fitzpatrick already has a bit of a negative reputation in Cleveland. He didn't help his cause on Sunday. 

During a Week 5 matchup between the New York Jets and Browns, Fitzpatrick laid a violent hit with the crown of his helmet into the side of wide receiver KC Concepcion's helmet, in the first quarter. The strike left Cleveland's rookie wideout down on the turf for an extended period of time before he was eventually able to stand up and walk straight to the locker room with multiple members of the training staff. He was immediately ruled out for the rest of the game. 

Outrage ensued online. Browns fans clamored for an ejection, as Fitzpatrick was dubbed the "dirtiest player in the league." But the sentiments online and from Browns fans weren't necessarily shared by members of the organization. 

That starts with Todd Monken, who fully downplayed the collision as an unfortunate football play. 

"That's just a bang-bang play. I mean Minkah's (Fitzpatrick) has been in this league a long time. I mean he's not a dirty player," he said. "I've never seen that out of him. I mean it's a bang-bang play. Unfortunately, it happened to our guy, and that that's part of the league."

Those comments were largely echoed by several players in the locker room postgame. Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. agreed it was bang-bang, while multiple members of the Browns' defense seemed to plead the fifth on whether or not the hit was excessive. 

The silence from guys on that side of the ball in particular is somewhat understandable. If they're ever on the delivering end of a similar play, they don't want their words to be used against them. 

There was one player who seemed particularly irked by the play, though, in swing tackle Dawand Jones. The 2023 fourth-round pick could be seen chirping in the general direction of Fitzpatrick after the play. He told Cleveland.com's Dan Labbe that he wanted to send a message to the nine-year veteran. 

"Just to let him know that, I don’t know, I told him that (expletive)’s not right," he said. "I call it how I see it. And some things ain’t football. Some things are, and that wasn’t football."

Cleveland's hate for Fitzpatrick infamously stems from 2023, when he delivered the gruesome shot to Nick Chubb's left leg, as a member of the Steelers, that completely derailed the star running back's career. Chubb was obviously never the same and he ultimately decided to retire with the Browns a few weeks ago. 

Jones was on the field for that play thus, he's probably more passionate about Fitzpatrick's overly physical play than others. There are only a handful of players still on the roster from that night in Pittsburgh. Jones is one of them, along with cornerback Denzel Ward, safeties Grant Delpit and Ronnie Hickman and QB Deshaun Watson. There simply aren't many members of the organization left who lived through that moment. 

The bottom line is that Fitzpatrick has developed quite a reputation for delivering controversial hits to Browns players, making the outrage from the fan base totally understandable. Regardless of what those around the team may say publicly, those impassioned sentiments are unlikely to change.