Browns' Jedrick Wills Jr. calls recent benching 'pretty shocking' - ESPN

BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.'s «business decision» to sit out a recent game with a knee injury might have backfired.

Wills was recently benched in favor of second-year tackle Dawand Jones, who was moved from right tackle to the left side in hopes of improving a Cleveland line that has been beset with injuries.

Wills said it was his decision not to play against the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 27 after he hyperextended his left knee — the same one he had surgery on in December — on the game's first play the previous week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Then, after the Browns (2-7) upset the Ravens with Jones at left tackle, Wills said coach Kevin Stefanski told him that he would no longer start but instead would serve as a «swing» tackle. He backed up both Jones and right tackle Jack Conklin for the Nov. 3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

A first-round draft pick in 2020 out of Alabama, Wills had started all 57 games in which he was healthy before the demotion.

«It was pretty shocking,» he said Monday as the Browns returned from their bye week. «I mean, I decided myself. I made a business decision not to play after the Bengals game going into that Ravens game because I was injured. And then the next week is when I received the news.»

Wills was asked whether the Browns misinterpreted his decision to sit out.

«I'm not sure,» he said. «Maybe.»

Wills understands the situation, but that doesn't make it any easier on the agreeable 25-year-old.

«I think upset isn't a good word to use,» he said when asked about his feelings. «I would say it's more frustrating. But, I mean, it's not my decision. I can only do what I can do.»

From their side, the Browns might have been making their own business decision