Hue Jackson gets creative to 'punish' Antonio Callaway
Antonio Callaway has drawn the wrong kind of headlines for the Cleveland Browns in the last week.
The former Florida wide receiver was cited a week ago by Strongsville police with marijuana possession, a minor misdemeanor because of the amount, and driving with a suspended license at 2:59 a.m. Callaway, who tested positive for marijuana at the combine, and was suspended last season in a credit card fraud case, has maintained his innocence.
Callaway has said that his car was recently shipped from Florida and he didn’t know it had marijuana in it. Callaway also didn’t report the incident to the team, and it wasn’t announced until several days later.
Callaway, meanwhile, played on Thursday in the Browns’ preseason opener against the New York Giants in a game where he made three catches for 87 yards, and a touchdown.
Talking with reporters on Sunday, Cleveland coach Hue Jackson explained why Callaway played despite the incident.
#Browns Jackson said he made Callaway play into the 4th quarter for disciplinary reasons. “You either sit him or make him play”
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 12, 2018
Jackson said “part of consequence” for Callaway was making him play as much as possible. Apparently, that is his punishment. #Browns
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) August 12, 2018
Perhaps Jackson’s rationale for the interesting punishment is star/veteran players don’t play much in the preseason, so by making Callaway play, he was punishing him, in some creative way.
Because he’s now a starter, Callaway’s behavior will be under even closer scrutiny than ever, especially given his collection of incidents in the last year. This precedent also sets a standard for Jackson, who is in a win-now situation with the Browns because of the ongoing struggles in his tenure as coach.