Ravens' Jadeveon Clowney addresses controversial Browns comments

Baltimore Ravens pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney suggested he's not treating this coming Sunday's contest at the division-rival Cleveland Browns as any kind of revenge game following controversial comments he made near the end of last season. 

"I got a lot of respect for a lot of those guys over there that I still consider friends," Clowney explained, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN. "If I had any bad blood, I don't think I would have signed to go back there for two years in a row."

Clowney, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, featured for the Browns across the 2021 and 2022 seasons but was sent home ahead of the club's Week 18 matchup versus the Pittsburgh Steelers in January after he said he was "ninety-five percent sure" he wouldn't return to Cleveland following the campaign. 

The 30-year-old added at that time he felt the Cleveland coaching staff gave All-Pro Myles Garrett favorable matchups versus certain offensive linemen because the Browns were "trying to get somebody into the Hall of Fame when all that matters is winning." 

Clowney eventually apologized to Garrett and now feels his comments were "locker room talk that got out" to the public. 

"We weren't winning a lot of games, and a lot of people were pointing fingers," Clowney continued. "I ended up on the wrong side of the fence, I guess."

The Browns failed to make the playoffs in each of Clowney's two seasons with the organization. Last year's edition of the team finished 7-10 after quarterback Deshaun Watson served an 11-game suspension related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions. 

Both the Browns and Ravens are 2-1 heading into Sunday's game held in Cleveland. 

Clowney recorded 1.5 sacks in his first three contests with the Ravens after he accumulated 11 quarterback takedowns with Cleveland. He notched nine of those sacks during the 2021 season.