When a new player arrives via free agency from a twice-per-year division rival, there’s always a chance some damage will need to be undone.
That applies to former Ravens linebacker Paul Kruger, who is now sharing a locker room with Browns left tackle Joe Thomas.
An item in the Cleveland Plain Dealer reminded us of an incident from last season, when the Browns and Ravens met on a Thursday night in Baltimore.
As the Browns tried to mount a comeback, an unnecessary roughness penalty called on Kruger against Browns left tackle Joe Thomas gave Cleveland one more shot.
After the game, Kruger accused Thomas of taking a dive.
“I was just getting held pretty bad,” Kruger said at the time. “I threw my hands at him to get him off me and he flopped pretty bad. Unfortunately, they called it. I wish I was that strong. I would be doing that every play. Yeah, he just flopped pretty bad.”
Since they’re both adults and now teammates -- and really rich ones, at that -- they should be able to find a way past it.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with hoping just a little bit that they won’t.