OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney said there's no "bad blood" as he prepares to play the Cleveland Browns for the first time since his tumultuous exit from the team last year.
Toward the end of last season, Clowney was quoted by Cleveland.com as saying the Browns were more worried about getting individual accolades for Myles Garrett than winning games.
The Browns sent Clowney home the next day and made him inactive for the final game.
"I got a lot of respect for a lot of those guys over there that I still consider friends," Clowney said Wednesday. "If I had any bad blood, I don't think I would have signed to go back there for two years in a row."
Clowney played two seasons for the Browns, re-signing in 2022. He recorded 65 tackles and 11 sacks with the Browns.
"You're all trying to get [Garrett] into the Hall of Fame instead of winning games," Clowney was quoted as saying three days before the 2022 finale. "I don't even think he notices. I ain't trying to say it's him. I try to get along with everybody I play with. Me and him don't have a problem. It ain't his fault, and it's B.S., and I don't have time for it."
Clowney on Wednesday said those comments were "locker room talk that got out." He insisted he never spoke to a reporter about Garrett or his usage, but he said he apologized to Garrett after those comments were published.
He was released by the Browns in March.
"We weren't winning a lot of games, and a lot of people were pointing fingers," Clowney said Wednesday. "I ended up on the wrong side of the fence, I guess."
Clowney, 30, has had a solid start to his first season in Baltimore. He has made 1.5 sacks and leads the Ravens with five quarterback hits, with coach John Harbaugh describing him as a "wrecking ball."
"We always thought the world about him as a player when playing against him," Harbaugh said. "He's played really well. He fits what we're doing well."