Browns LT Jedrick Wills Jr.: ‘I made a business decision’ not to play hurt vs. Ravens; benching was ‘pretty shocking’

By the time Wills got demoted the following week, it didn’t make sense for him to ask for a trade. The deadline was Nov. 5, two days after the game.

“I mean, there really wasn’t enough time,” he said. “It was more just we were getting ready for that Chargers game. So it was more just like being ready to play, if anything.”

Wills, who suffered the season-ending torn MCL in Week 9 last year against the Cardinals, is in the final year of his contract — the fifth-year option year — that pays him $14.175 million this year. But the Browns restructured his deal this offseason to lower the base salary to $1.125 million for cap relief, and gave him a $13.050 million restructure bonus.

With four void or “ghost years” on his contract after this season, he has a cap charge of $11.812 million in 2025.

If the Browns don’t extend or re-sign him, all they’ll have is the cap charge to remember him by.

“I mean, you never know,” Wills said. “Just kind of playing and whatever happens, happens.”

Was he concerned there would be long-term implications of tapping himself out before the Ravens game, a 29-24 victory in which Jones made his first start at left tackle for the Browns?

“Maybe,” he said. “That’s always a variable, but there’s been times where I haven’t played in the past with other things. I had an ankle injury where I was out a couple of games a couple years ago. Injuries are part of game. They know that when they sign us up, we know that when we sign up. If you can’t play and you’re not healthy, it is what it is. Do your best to get back and be able to help the team when you are.”

Wills noted “it was just a quick conversation between me and Kevin (about getting benched),” he said. “Maybe like a minute long. He just told me I wasn’t playing and that was it. I was like, ‘OK, that’s fine. I’ll be ready to play.’ Been working both sides and that’s about it.”

Any message on what this means for his future?

“No message,” he said.

He said he worked hard throughout the week to be ready for the Ravens game, to no avail.

“I had a lot of fluid that I had to get drained,” he said. “I had some swelling. I had some damage to my cartilage. I have a bone bruise that I’ve been dealing with since last year, so they just kind of evaluated it … I tried to do some stuff on the Friday, didn’t feel good, and then they just declared me inactive after practice.”

He said leading up the Ravens game team officials “were just kind of asking what I felt, what was wrong. ‘You think that maybe you could make a game-time decision?’ Stuff like that.”

He was asked if he was upset by the subsequent benching.

“Upset isn’t a good word to use,” he said. “I would say it’s more frustrating. But it’s not my decision. I can only do what I can do.”

Wills, who played on a bad ankle his rookie year when he probably should’ve shut it down, didn’t want to make the same mistake he did back then. He had some subpar performances that season that got his career started on the wrong foot.

“You wouldn’t want to go out there and put forth 70% of your effort while you’re injured, and then you have somebody else who can go out there and give 100%,” he said. “I don’t want to be out there the whole time thinking about my knee. I’ve got to focus on my assignment. In the past with my ankles, I played and I didn’t play as good, so why would I do the same thing risking a worse knee injury?”

He stressed that his decision would’ve been the same whether or not he was in a contract year.

“I don’t think I’d play hurt regardless of any time it was in my career,” he said. “If I’m healthy enough to play, I’ll play. If I’m not healthy enough to play, then I won’t play.”

He noted that as far as possibly hitting free agency in March, “I’m just waiting, looking forward to plan.”

Does he like it here?

“Yeah,” he said. “I like wherever I’m wanted, you know what I mean?”

He revealed that he hasn’t heard anything about an extension since last season, when he was playing well before tearing the MCL.

“I know they were in some type of talks last year, but then I got injured,” he said. “I ended up being out for the rest of the year. I haven’t heard of anything since.”

Does this feel like the end to you here?

“It can go either way,” he said. “You never know it. It’s not my decision, so I’ve just kind of got to play the role that I have.”

When Stefanski made the move to Jones, he gave Wills a vote of confidence.

“I’m not trying to say anything about [Wills],” he said. “I’m just trying to put Dawand out there and let him get better. Jed is still a player that we believe in, and right now he’s got to be ready to go.”

Wills graded out well in the loss to the Commanders, his first full game of the season, earning a 66.3 mark from Pro Football Focus. But the setback on the first play of the Bengals game contributed to him surrendering a sack. He also missed an assignment that day in his worst performace of the season.

“I didn’t do as good the Bengals game. I definitely gave up a sack early on,” he said. “Then I had that play where I blew the assignment. I mean, other than that, I feel like I had a pretty solid game given the circumstances.

“But definitely in the first couple of games, I mean, I was feeling good. I didn’t have any problems with my knee. I mean, I feel like I was doing pretty fine.”

All three Browns offensive tackles have struggled at times this season coming off their season-ending knee injuries, including right tackle Jack Conklin. In fact, Jones, who also had MCL surgery in December, earned relatively low Pro Football Focus grades for his two starts at left over the past two games, lower than all but one of Wills’ five grades this season.

But the Browns needs to know what they have in Jones at left tackle in the event they opt not to re-sign Wills, and Wills is eager to help him. They’re close friends and lockermates.

“He was more surprised than anything,” Wills said. “I’m just trying to help him. We talk about football, we talk about real-life stuff all the time. It was just being there for him, helping him when I can.”

Likewise, the Browns might want to evaluate Wills at right tackle this season for future planning. He played on the right side at Alabama, but still blocked the blindside of lefty Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

“It would probably feel new,” Wills said. “I mean, it’s been five years since I’ve been over there, but I did some reps in practice and it was fine.”

As far as how he stacks up with his 2020 classmate Tristan Wirfs, now the left tackle for the Bucs, he believes he can be mentioned in the same breath when healthy. Wirfs, picked No. 13 overall by the Bucs, is the No. 1 ranked tackle in the NFL this season, according to PFF. Wills is No. 53.

“I’d say that we’re in the same caliber,” Wills said. “Tristan’s a hell of a player. He’s a stud. I just try to do what I can.”

He knows that his time in Cleveland could be over after this season, but it hasn’t hurt his his steadfast belief in himself.

“That hasn’t changed at all,” he said.