BEREA, Ohio — Browns vs. Steelers. Steelers vs. Browns. It's physical any time two AFC North teams play each other, but when Cleveland goes head-to-head against Pittsburgh, tensions rise and things can get a little extra chippy.
It's the longtime rivalry these two teams have that results in the little love the two have for each other. That's the case every year and has been no different this season.
The Browns and Steelers' first meeting was just a few weeks ago. There's only been one game for the Browns in between. That bodes well for the tension to still be high between them—tensions that began to boil over in that first Thursday night matchup.
Throughout the game, words were said. Contact was made. Motivation became multiplied.
At one point, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens tripped up Browns safety Grant Delpit near the sideline. Delpit responded by pulling at Pickens' mouthguard hanging from his helmet. Delpit was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, a 15-yard penalty, and fined $11,255 for the interaction.
It may have felt justified, but it wasn't something Delpit was proud of.
"The second guy always gets caught. I understand that and it cost the team some yards, so dumb on my part," he said.
That wasn't the only interaction of that nature.
During the final play of the game, as Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson was attempting a Hail Mary into the end zone with time expiring, most players were locked into making a play. Not Pickens. The Steelers' receiver was busy ripping at cornerback Greg Newsome II's helmet, dragging him out of the end zone. From there, the two scuffled until it was broken up by officials.
In Pittsburgh's locker room Friday, Pickens was asked about Newsome. He opted to add fuel to the fire.
"I don't even know who that is," Pickens said.
Around Cleveland's locker room, there was plenty of reaction to Pickens' sound bite.
"It's just football talk. George is a competitor. Clearly everybody know who Greg Newsome is. It’s just football talk, a little trash talk, nothing major," said wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
"I just take it with a grain of salt. That guy is just saying things. It's clear as day that he knows who he is. I think he's actually DM'd him before, so it's kind of crazy for him to say that he doesn't know who he is," said cornerback Mike Ford. "You line up against him every year you've been in the NFL, twice a year. So, just take it with a grain of salt, give a little bit of motivation for us, and then go out there and perform like we always have."
And despite the perceived intention to disrespect, Newsome isn't letting the comment get under his skin.
"The only way you would take something that somebody says disrespectful is if you actually care about that person. So I don't care what he has to say or anybody has to say. So I don't take it as disrespectful because I don't care about the dude at all," Newsome said. "I'm an ultimate professional, so it's easy for me. I mean, a guy like him, it's obviously hard. That happened our game, he got two more penalties the next game, so that's just a trend that he does. But me, I'm a professional so I would never let somebody make me do something to hurt my football team."
The Browns consider the trash talk involving Pickens to be bulletin board material. They're aiming to keep cool heads as they enter the game and not do "dumb ****," as head coach Kevin Stefanski has been preaching to the team this week.
Cleveland doesn't want to commit penalties. They don't want to hurt their team. This rivalry for them has to start with the trash talk and end with backing it up with their play on the field, nothing more.
The Browns don't expect that to be a problem for them as they aim to sweep the Steelers this season. Because in a year where playoff hopes have been all but eliminated for Cleveland, the team is finding other things to play for.
"Division games always count for two. I know that we aren't fighting for the playoffs, but the goal is to not let the guys in the division make it deep in there. So why not try and take them down? We did it once, why not do it twice?" Ford said.
The final matchup between these two foes kicks off Sunday at 1 p.m. in Pittsburgh. There are plenty of intense storylines entering the game, and while the rivalry seems to be more heated than ever, this is just a new chapter of bad blood between the Browns and Steelers.
"It's always felt the same," said defensive end Myles Garrett. "You had veterans from the rivalry when I was starting out with Big Ben [Ben Roethlisberger] and AB [Antonio Brown], Le'Veon [Bell], so it's really just evolved, but I wouldn't say it's gotten any bigger. It's just different characters playing the roles now."
