It’s been a strange year for Browns rookie defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey. Benched in Week Two for disciplinary reasons, Winfrey missed Cleveland’s most recent game due to a concussion. A concussion that he suffered when he crashed a scooter into a pole.
He now hopes to play on Sunday, and to crash into Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.
“It’s just like another thing that I’m going to be able to write in my book one day,” Winfrey said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I’ve been gone for like a month, and the first game I get to come back is against arguably the greatest quarterback of all time and then I get the chance to possibly sack him if this is his last year ever. So I’m just blessed to be able to go out there and give it my all and I’m not going to say I’m going to do anything. I’m just going to make sure I do my job every single play, and the results will follow.”
The results haven’t followed Winfrey’s selection in round four of the 2022 draft. He exited the concussion protocol on Friday, after his unfortunate encounter with an immovable object.
“I was driving around and just ran into a pole,” Winfrey said. “Nothing crazy. [Editor’s note: Other than crashing a scooter into a pole.] I looked back to try to see if my friend was still behind me, and when I looked back I ran into the pole. Just things I’ve got to get over as a rookie. Little things here and there.”
Winfrey believes that he’s making progress when it comes to maturing.
“Honestly, I just changed my perspective over this past month being able to reset and focus in on what I need to focus on,” Winfrey said. “I’m just grateful to be able to do what I love, so I started to take this job more seriously and leaving everything else that didn’t have to do with this alone.”
Defensive end Myles Garrett sees growth in Winfrey.
“I definitely feel like he still has a ways to go as far as this season and playing up to the standards that he has set,” Garrett said, via Cabot. “But I mean, maturity, he’s taking steps forward and coming along and I know that energy that he has is infectious and we love the way he talks and the confidence that he brings to the room. But we also need him to bring that in the performances as well. He hasn’t played as much as he would or probably I would want him to because he’s had things happening here and there.”
There it is again. “Here and there.” Winfrey needs to keep working on ensuring that he’ll be able to get past the things happening “here and there,” if he’s hoping to achieve his potential here, there, and everywhere.