'I needed to mature': Browns rookie Perrion Winfrey says he's learned from discipline

BEREA — It took a while for Browns rookie defensive tackle Perrion Winfreyto express his contrition.

He wouldn’t say what prompted coach Kevin Stefanski to discipline him, forcing him to sit out Friday’s practice and Sunday’s 31-30 home loss to the New York Jets, confiding only that it was a “one-time thing.”

“If coach didn’t share with y’all, I think it’s best that it stays in house,” Winfrey said.

But Winfrey, 22, a fourth-round draft pick from Oklahoma, was back with the team on Tuesday and said the experience changed him.

“I just feel like it was something that I needed to mature,” Winfrey said. “I feel like I wouldn't be the player that I'm going to be now if it had not happened, so I'm glad that it happened. Everything happens for a reason in my eyes.”

Stefanski said he hasn’t seen anything different from Winfrey this week, not exactly a positive endorsement. Winfrey, who captivated fans by barking during his draft day interview, said he didn’t feel it was necessary to apologize to the team.

Asked if it got his attention, Winfrey said, “I wouldn’t say it had my attention because I was locked in before. I would say this puts me in a different headspace and a different area of focus.

“I’m still approaching practice and everything balls to the wall, still being the player that I was meant out to be. This doesn’t change anything, doesn’t change my focus, doesn’t change how I feel about the organization, the team or any of that.”

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Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett gave the only hint of Winfrey’s transgression on Friday when Garrett was asked if he felt like he needed to say something as a team captain.

“We all have to step up and say something. But sometimes silence speaks louder than words. We’ve used our voice a couple of times, and at the end of the day he’s got to learn how to be a pro,” Garrett said of Winfrey. “Kevin took it into his own hands and he felt like that was the right thing to do. I’m behind my coach’s actions fully.

“It was pretty common knowledge and it was easy to see. So it wasn’t like we had to bring it to his attention. His actions were very apparent.”

Winfrey said every young player has things to learn when they enter the league.

“I would say every rookie coming into the organization learns things that they need to do and learns things that they shouldn’t do,” Winfrey said. “I feel like people of my age or people that are older than me or in my same age bracket, we’re all going through the same struggles of learning where you need to be and how you need to be there. I would say that becoming a pro is something every rookie learns how to do.”

But not every rookie is disciplined before his second regular-season game.

“I mean, different strokes, different folks. Every rookie goes through something different and this is something I had to go through alone,” Winfrey said. “MY journey and the other rookies are on THEIR journey. So them being or not being out at practice is something that has to do with their journey.

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“My journey I was not allowed to play and it is what it is. Whether I feel I should have played or not doesn’t really matter because that game’s over and now we’re focused on Pittsburgh.”

The Browns host the Pittsburgh Steelers for a nationally televised game Thursday night in an AFC North battle of 1-1 teams.

Winfrey wouldn’t say there were “necessarily warning signs” before he was disciplined, but that he was receiving help from Browns veterans.

“They were just as typical veterans trying to help me along into becoming a pro,” Winfrey said. “But I wouldn’t say there was one guy in particular that was on my ass or talking negatively about me. They were just trying to help me become a grown man.”

Winfrey was on the sideline Sunday against the Jets and said he would be active Thursday night.

His presence will be needed with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (ankle) out against the Steelers and Garrett (neck) sitting out practice Tuesday. Defensive end Chase Winovich (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve and Stefanski didn’t know if Winovich’s injury would be season-ending.

Rookie defensive ends Alex Wright, a third-round pick from Alabama Birmingham, and Isaiah Thomas, a seventh-round pick from Oklahoma, may have to carry the load. The Browns will need Winfrey, a backup tackle behind starters Jordan Elliott and Taven Bryan, to make plays.

Winfrey had six sacks and 16.5 tackles for losses in two seasons with the Sooners. In the season-opening victory at Carolina, Winfrey played only five defensive snaps (9%) and was credited with one Baker Mayfield pass batted at the line.

“Good football players make good football plays … so if I want to be a good football player then this Thursday I got to make plays,” Winfrey said.

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Winfrey wore a harness on his left shoulder that he said was from a weightlifting incident and sported a new short haircut.

“I wouldn't say it had anything to do with the experience I had, it was just I feel like I just wanted to let it go, I wanted a change, I wanted a new look,” Winfrey said. “Whether I played or not, I was cutting my hair.”

Winfrey said he’s made the necessary changes and believes the discipline made him hungrier.

“It just let me know that this game could be taken away from you at any point in time,” Winfrey said. “So just take it seriously 24/7 and just count your blessings, just be able to realize that you’re in a blessed position and take it seriously.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns rookie Perrion Winfrey returns from coach's discipline