Browns coach Romeo Crennel has been asked about rumors and reports of a rumble between defensive lineman Shaun Smith and quarterback Brady Quinn.
And Crennel wouldn’t say whether or not it’s true.
“If it happened, we’re keeping it in house,” Crennel said.
Let’s see, the options in Crennel’s mind apparently were: (1) “it didn’t happen”; (2) “it happened”; (3) “no comment”; and (4) “if, hypothetically, it happened — and I’m not saying that it did — then we hypothetically would have addressed the hypothetical situation in house, hypothetically.”
Crennel also wouldn’t say whether Smith was inactive on Sunday as discipline for any incident that might or might not have happened.
“Shaun was inactive and generally all the inactive guys are coaches’ decisions,” Crennel said. “That was a coaches’ decision for him not to play. I’m not going to talk about family business.”
Smith didn’t practice on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday due to a calf injury, and he was listed as doubtful on the injury report. So if Crennel is saying what we think he’s saying, then the Browns basically doctored the injury report as cover for what was in reality the imposition of discipline on Smith.
Also, Crennel acknowledged that there recently was a verbal altercation of some sort between Smith and an offensive lineman. Crennel said that he didn’t know whether things got physical.
Last month, it was rumored that Smith was the target of general criticism from running back Jamal Lewis regarding the perceived existence of quitters on the team.