Corey Coleman asked Hue Jackson to trade him, and the Browns complied.
Coleman and Antonio Callaway stole the second episode of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns on HBO on Tuesday night. Another receiver, Jarvis Landry, starred in the first episode with an impassioned speech in the receivers room.
The second episode opens at Coleman’s apartment with the former first-round pick showing off his thousand pair of sneakers. He was traded hours later but not before scenes of General Manager John Dorsey, head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley questioning Coleman’s pride, effort and attention to detail.
“It looks like he’s running 5 miles per hour,” Haley tells Dorsey after practice.
After the Browns replaced Coleman with rookie Antonio Callaway in the starting lineup, Coleman confronted Jackson in Jackson’s office.
“Why am I running second team?’' Coleman asked. “That s--- is crazy to me.’'
Jackson told Coleman to go ask Haley.
“If y’all don’t want me to play, why don’t y’all just trade me?” Coleman responded.
And so, they did the next day, getting a 2020 seventh-round pick for Coleman. “You know what that’s like? That’s like saying, ‘Here,’” Emmanuel Ogbah said in the defensive line meeting room when he learned the compensation.
Much of the rest of the episode revolves around Callaway and his citation for possession of marijuana and driving with a suspended license, which he didn’t reveal to anyone in the organization. It’s obvious during practice the day after the traffic stop that Callaway had something on his mind. Jackson asked Callaway, “What’s wrong?” and Haley asked him, “Are you all right?”
Once the media reported the story, Callaway had a meeting with Dorsey and Jackson in Dorsey’s office. They told Callaway how disappointed they were in him and then asked Callaway for his explanation. The receiver blamed his younger brother for the roach being in the car.
“I mean, we’re dealing with something that all of this can be prevented,” Jackson lectured Callaway. “You check your car, first of all. You know your history. You can’t take a chance. You can’t put first yourself in this situation. You can’t put us in this situation. Now listen. You’ve got talent, but talent ain’t everything I’m looking for. I want you to become a man and responsible and accountable to John and me, this organization and your teammates or else I wouldn’t keep you on the team. I’m just being very honest with you. OK? If s--- comes up, you have my number. You’ve got John’s number. You call us ASAP. That’s what I expect from you from here on in.
“I believe you, but if I’m wrong on this one, then I’m going to have your ass.”
Callaway briefly apologized in a team meeting, and then Jackson repeated a Cliff’s Notes version of his lecture to the team.
As punishment, Callaway played every snap of the preseason opener. He caught three passes for 87 yards and a touchdown.