BEREA, Ohio — Browns rookie defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. is set to play for the first time this season after serving a five-game suspension stemming from a domestic violence arrest in August that saw serious allegations filed against him.
The day was one Hall described as an "unfortunate event."
Hall was arrested and charged with domestic violence after allegedly striking his fiancèe. She recanted one, but not all, of the allegations.
The 21-year-old native of Streetsboro declined to push back on the allegation against him, acknowledging the police reports and updated statements from his fiancèe, and opting to let people form their own opinion.
"I'm not going to speak on what happened. I mean, if you want to know what happened, you can just go read the police reports or whatever," Hall said. "People are entitled to their own opinions, so believe what you want to believe or do what you want to do. But at the end of the day, I'm still here. I'm still a Cleveland Brown at the end of the day, and I'm going to continue to be here and work hard every day."
Hall began the season on the Commissioner's Exempt List as a result of the incident in August, and on Oct. 1 was officially given a five-game suspension retroactive to the start of the season. That made him available following Sunday's game against the Washington Commanders.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said they'll activate Hall from the Commissioner's Exempt List and that he will play Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. He also addressed how Hall had looked in practice as he prepared for his first game action.
"Good for him to be out there on the practice field, getting back into the rhythm of practice and moving around and he looked good," Stefanski said.
Hall said that he's happy to be getting back— ready to move forward from the August situation.
"First and foremost, I'd just like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But just coming back, just excited to be in a building with the guys. Just happy that everybody accepted me back after the unfortunate event that happened recently. Just moving on and moving forward and just trying to get back out there and get in a groove of things," Hall said.
As he's sat out and served his suspension, Hall said he's been doing all of the things he would have normally done to prepare for football on his own. Hall said that he's been working out, getting treatments, staying in the building and trying to stay ready.
But Hall also said he's been in counseling to grow from the domestic violence incident.
"It was just an unfortunate event, but just controlling what I can control as a man and a person. Just, you got to move forward and just continue going to counseling and all that. It's been a real help," Hall shared.
While he's been gearing up for his ability to return to football, Hall said the team has not given up on him.
"No dislikes or anything. No hate or no love lost with the team. So it's just like I said before, glad to be back and can't wait to get out there this weekend," he said.
Veteran defensive end Myles Garrett said that the D-Line unit has worked to make sure Hall is up to speed. Between Garrett, Shelby Harris, Dalvin Tomlinson and Za'Darius Smith, the linemen have been trying to teach Hall the things he'll need to know as he makes an NFL debut.
"Just try to give him knowledge and catch him up on things since he hasn't been out there and tell him what we've been seeing, explain how we approach the game and what’s our thought process," Garrett said. "He's a pretty high IQ kid as far as football, so got to get him up to speed so that when he gets out there, he's impactful, he's making plays and he's meshing well with us.”
With a game on Sunday, Hall is aiming to move forward from the arrest and the allegations against him. And he and the team hope that amid the seriousness of those allegations and charges, Hall can grow from the situation.
"Like I said before, just control the controllables and just keep going to counseling," Hall said.
