Perrion Winfrey reveals reason for concussion, has changed perspective

Nov 27, 2022 - 12:05 AM

The failures this season for the Cleveland Browns can be found all over the board. From the front office seemingly not valuing run defense to the coaches not putting players in position to succeed on defense and special teams to untimely turnovers by the offense, and everything in between, the 2022 season has been an abject failure so far for the Browns.

Rookie DT Perrion Winfrey has been one of those failures.

Despite poor play from those at his position, Winfrey has played just 119 snaps this year. He has been active for just six of the team’s 10 games this year and produced just five tackles, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit and two passes deflected.

He also tweeted, then deleted, about this year being the worst of his life. That tweet, and another cryptic one, came after a head injury led him into concussion protocol and being inactive in Week 11.

Winfrey revealed to Cleveland.com that his injury was caused in a scooter accident:

“I was driving around (on a scooter) and just ran into a pole,” he said. “Nothing crazy. I looked back to try to see if my friend was still behind me, and when I looked back I ran into the pole. Just things I’ve got to get over as a rookie. Little things here and there.”

With maturity issues already leading to Winfrey being sat for a game, a scooter accident just adds to the narrative that he’s not ready for his role in the NFL.

However, the rookie noted that his mom helped him turn his thinking around and he has worked to change his perspective:

“I just had to change my perspective. My mom (Shantel Thomas) definitely did that for me. I wouldn’t say she flipped the script. She just like opened my eyes to all of the things I’ve been blessed with, and let me know that there’s a lot of people that are living way worse than you.”

He continued on that he was focused on his job moving forward and putting in a great finish to the season.

“Honestly I just changed my perspective over this past month being able to reset and focus in on what I need to focus on,” he said. “I’m just grateful to be able to do what I love, so I started to take this job more seriously and (I’m) leaving everything else that didn’t have to do with this alone.”

Winfrey returned to practice late this week and may not be active again for Week 12. While it is possible that his accident and talk with his mother really helped change his perspective but Browns fans (and most likely the organization and players) will be skeptical until they see the change in action on the field.