After helping to orchestrate the Cleveland Browns’ first loss of the season, third-year safety Grant Delpit felt no obligation to explain his role in the defensive collapse against the Jets in Week 2.
He spoke at the team’s press conference on Monday after the brutal defeat and gave a two word answer in response to a fair question asked about what happened on the 66-yard touchdown that set New York up for the comeback.
“Communication error” was all he could come up with.
Reporters prodded at him for further clarification, but Delpit was not keen on changing his response. Though he gave a more thorough answer on his second attempt to satisfy the curious writers, his statement was equally curt.
“It was a two-call play and had a formation we play either one when we get the call,” he explained. “Communication error.”
Asked specifically about his assignment on the long touchdown, Delpit went back to his original answer.
“Communication error” was, again, his only response.
Cornerback Denzel Ward had been interviewed earlier in the session, and spoke about the play in question, saying that his responsibility was to cover the flat. Delpit, who no doubt had been privy to his teammate’s assertion, could not be moved to make any further comment on the matter beyond that he wasn’t interested in pointing fingers for the mind-numbingly bad play.
“I am not going to play the blame game with my teammates,” he said. “So I am just going to leave it as it was a communication error.”
The third-year safety may be content to give non-statements to the press following the utter collapse of his unit at a critical point in what was a very winnable game, but that doesn’t fix any of the team’s underlying issues. Browns fans want answers, and after a wretched performance like the one Cleveland turned out on Sunday, they absolutely should get them.
Delpit might not have been the primary culprit in the team’s loss, but his statements to reporters paint a clear picture. He has no interest in taking accountability for his part in the defense’s abject failure against the Jets, and is more than willing to let the fans and media believe whatever they want.
That approach is a bold one, especially after a loss as heinous as the one the Browns suffered on Sunday.
