Cleveland Browns

Browns' Gilbert needs more consistency if he wants to play

Published Nov. 20, 2015 12:47 a.m. ET

foxsports

Just when it looked like Browns former first-round pick Justin Gilbert was starting to trend up, he took a step backwards in Week 10 against the Steelers.

Gilbert, the No. 8 overall pick in 2014, didn't see the field once in Pittsburgh after playing a season-high 23 defensive snaps the previous week in Cincinnati. Defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley said that whoever practices the best during the week will get the reps on game day.

"It is not effort. It is just technique, being consistent," Hafley said via the team's official website. "I will say, you saw it – we played him in the Cincy game. He had a good few weeks of practice and he deserved to play, and we played him.”

Gilbert must've had a bad week of practice leading up to the Pittsburgh game as he took a backseat to K'Wuan Williams, Pierre Desir, Johnson Bademosi, and even sixth-round pick Charles Gaines, who played 27 snaps in his NFL debut.

Browns CB defensive snap counts

Player	Week 9 at Cincinnati	Week 10 at Pittsburgh
Justin Gilbert	23	0
Johnson Bademosi	2	17
K'Wuan Williams	27	50
Piere Desir	41	20
Charles Gaines	0	27
Tramon Williams	65	64

Hafley said that Gilbert needs to show more consistency in practice and in the meeting room every day if he wants to be in the lineup more consistently.

“Come out every day and compete," Hafley said of what Gilbert needs to do to get back on the field. "Show us and his teammates that he deserves to be out there on the field. I think what everybody has seen is that the guys that go out and practice the best and the guys we believe give us the best chance, we are going to play those guys."