If the Browns' first week of regular season practice is any indication, the team could be in for a long season.
The team's practice turned ugly on Thursday after a fight broke out between safety Calvin Pryor wide receiver Ricardo Louis. Browns coach Hue Jackson was clearly more upset with Pryor's role in the fight, because after practice was over, the former first-round pick was cut from the team.
"We did release the player, and we are moving on," Jackson said after practice, via, Cleveland.com. "I just made a decision which we thought was best for our football team and we moved on. That is it."
The move means that Pryor, who was acquired on June 1 after a trade between the Jets and the Browns, won't actually ever get to play a regular season down in Cleveland. It also continues a dramatic fall for a player who was taken with the 18th overall pick in the NFL Draft in 2014.
Some players in Cleveland, like offensive lineman Joe Thomas, were surprised to hear that Pryor got released over a fight.
"That's never happened, so that's probably a first," Thomas said of a player getting cut over a fight, via Cleveland.com. "In 11 years I can't remember a year we didn't have fights, it's just what happens. Even going back to high school, college, those are just things that happen."
On the other hand, Pryor may have had it coming. According to Cleveland.com, Jackon explicitly asked Pryor to step away from the fight and he refused to do so.
"When the boss tells you to do something, you need to listen to your boss, and if you don't, there's consequences," Thomas said.
The practice fight was second time in 24 hours that something has gone wrong at a Browns practice. The ugliness started on Wednesday when No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett suffered a sprained ankle during practice. Not only will the injury keep Garrett out of this week's opener against the Steelers, but the top pick could end up missing a total of three or four weeks with his injury
