Antonio Callaway has some work to do, perhaps not as much on the field as in regaining the Browns’ trust.
The rookie receiver expressed remorse to team officials in private conversations this week after his citation for possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license came to light.
“I’m still 100 percent committed to the Browns,” Callaway said Thursday night, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “I’m still focusing. I hate that negative light had to shine on the Cleveland Browns, but I’m doing whatever I have to do to gain my coaches and my teammates’ trust back. So that won’t happen again.”
Callaway blamed his younger brother for the small amount of marijuana police found in the car, which was shipped from Florida to Ohio. Callaway said Thursday he was not worried about the NFL potentially testing him, because he has nothing illegal in his system.
The Browns started him despite their unhappiness with his legal run-in over the weekend. He had three catches for 87 yards and a touchdown, though he dropped one pass and had two other catchable passes fall incomplete among his seven targets.
Callaway earned a second chance after meeting with coach Hue Jackson and General Manager John Dorsey privately and addressing his teammates in a team meeting.
“I trust him. I believe in what he said,” Jackson said. “When I say ‘I trust,’ I trust the information given to me and what I know.
“He’s going to have to earn my trust the rest of the way. We’re not going to deal with anymore of this. This is the end of that. I think we need to move forward from this, but hopefully this is a huge lesson learned for him because I think he understands where I stand and where John Dorsey stands in this situation.”