Several Cleveland Browns players responded Wednesday to Tashaun Gipson on Wednesday after the Jacksonville Jaguars safety suggested his former team would finish the season 0-16.
"Anybody would be disrespected from that," defensive tackle Danny Shelton said, according to the Akron Beacon Journal's Nate Ulrich. "So we've just got to go out there and play our game, be dominant."
Quarterback DeShone Kizer also chimed in.
"I look forward to going out there and executing my job to try to prove [Gipson] wrong," he said, per Ulrich.
In an interview with ESPN Radio's Freddie & Fitz on Monday, Gipson laid into Cleveland with a Jaguars-Browns clash tabbed for Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium.
"They're probably going to finish 0-16," he said, per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. "So you look at things like that, man, it's just a blessing to be able to get out of that situation and come to a situation like this where you know what winning feels like."
Gipson added he'd like to see the Jaguars embarrass the Browns on both sides of the ball.
"I truly hope that we hang 40 on them. Their offense probably shouldn't score against our defense and I'm excited. That's the true thing.''
Gipson later walked those comments back.
"The 0-16 comment probably was a bit too far, but at the end of the day, I do expect a Jaguar victory on Sunday," he said, according to Ulrich.
"I think this defense is the best defense in the National Football League and unless you have a Tom Brady at the helm, I feel like any given team against us, we can pitch a shutout."
If the Browns want to have a shot at upsetting the Jaguars—who are 7.5-point road favorites, according to OddsShark—they'll need to come up with a rousing effort against the league's No. 1 scoring defense.
The way to do so would seem to be on the ground.
Through 10 weeks, the Jaguars rank first against the pass but 25th against the run.
In other words, expect heavy doses of Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson Jr. as Cleveland eyes its first win of the season.
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