CLEVELAND – Cleveland center-back JC Tretter believes Kansas City assistant coach Greg Lewis should be disciplined by the NFL for his role in a side skirmish with Cleveland safety Ronnie Harrison Jr. on Sunday.
Harrison was ejected from Cleveland’s 33-29 loss in the first quarter after pushing hard on Lewis, who pushed the Browns ’safety after coming to the aid of leaders Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Tretter, president of the NFL players’ unions, disapproved of Harrison’s behavior, but said Lewis needs the league to be held accountable for his actions.
“I hope the coach has the same standard (if not a higher level) than Ronnie,” Tretter said in a Zoom call. “Be the first one there and be a coach, get your hands on an opposing player.
“I don’t think there’s room for that in this league.”
An NFL spokesman said the incident is under review and Harrison will not be suspended.
He is likely to be fined.
After an 11-yard gain, Edwards-Helaire was tackled to the Kansas City side by Harrison and defender Mack Wilson. With Edwards-Helaire on the ground, Harrison was on top of him and seemed to be stepping on the runner when Lewis, the team’s back coach, came and pushed Harrison.
Cleveland security fired back with a strong push into the Lewis neck area that dropped his handset.
The Kansas City bench was initially called for unsportsmanlike conduct. After a review, the officers threw Harrison, the dismissal cost the Browns one of their best defensive players.
Lewis was allowed to stay on the sidelines, which did not go well with the Browns.
“He should receive the same treatment as our players,” said All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett. “He should be kicked out of the game just like Ronnie.”
All that happened, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Harrison needed to show better judgment.
“It’s the oldest in football: game officials always see the second,” Stefanski said. “And Ronnie has to show some balance there and not retaliate.”
Head coach Andy Reid was not asked on Monday about Lewis’ possible discipline. After the match, he defended his assistant.
“Don’t do this to our side, don’t do it to our guys, in short,” he said.
Tretter saw it differently, with Harrison and Lewis wrong.
“Obviously, Ronnie can’t retaliate,” he said. “But we can’t have opposing coaches putting their hands on opposing players. We can’t have that.”
Tretter noted that coaches are no longer allowed to leave the field due to injuries due to an incident between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals a few years ago. He added that the league’s emphasis on this season’s mocking rule is designed to minimize the chances of retaliation.
Stefanski didn’t point his fingers, but he doesn’t think Harrison intended to step on Edwards-Helaire.
“I think any contact that came from Ronnie was incidental,” Stefanski said. “If you look at the tape, it’s pretty obvious that it’s crashing while trying to get out of its limit.
“But that’s not an excuse to retaliate. You can’t do that. That’s something we all know, that game officials will see the second boy, not the first boy.”