Delanie Walker wasn't buying the hype around the Cleveland Browns ahead of this weekend. The tight end definitely wasn't buying it after his Tennessee Titans laid the boom Sunday on the most interesting (andpublished) team in football.
"It's funny, man. It's so funny, like you can doubt someone and you ain't even played the game yet," Walker told reporters after the win, per The Tennessean. "But that's what we do in this league. We hype teams. We hype 'em and that's the norm."
Asked if he had paid attention to what Browns players were saying in the press leading up to their highly anticipated campaign, Walker said, "Front-runners, that's all I'mma say."
The tight end added, in his best Dennis Green impersonation, "We didn't circle this game. This is just another game. We ain't even worried about it. I'm gonna tell you again, man. They were who we thought they were. Y'all can crown 'em if you want. Crown 'em. Still got to play football."
Tennessee took advantage of a reckless Browns roster that committed 18 penalties for 182 yards and turned the ball over thrice, all three times on the arm of Baker Mayfield. The Browns got within two points of the Titans late in the third quarter, but Tennessee ended the game on a 28-0 run. The Titans scored four touchdowns in the game's final 17 minutes, including Walker's pair of receptions from Marcus Mariota.
"The Tennessee Titans have always been under the radar. What's new?" Walker said Monday, via The Plain Dealer. "So I expect them to talk about the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland this, Cleveland that. We're going to go in there and play football. As a group, we've just got to handle the noise and play our game."
On Sunday afternoon, the Titans did just that to the Browns -- and they didn't let them off the hook.
