Amidst swirling speculation regarding the future of Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, especially after yet another loss, the team’s longest-tenured veteran, left guard Joel Bitonio, offered a robust defense of his head coach on Wednesday.

With the Browns sitting at a disappointing juncture in what is Stefanski’s sixth season at the helm, the noise surrounding the head coach’s job security has reached a fever pitch. Stefanski, who snapped the franchise’s lengthy playoff drought in his first year and earned NFL Coach of the Year honors in both 2020 and 2023, now finds himself staring down a career record of 45-60 in Cleveland.

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Despite the recent slide, Bitonio remains steadfast in his belief that Stefanski is the right man for the job.

“I think he’s a good football coach,” Bitonio said, as reported by ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “We have not won. And he will tell you firsthand winning matters in this league and we haven’t done that. But as a coach goes, I have the highest respect for him, what he’s done here.”

Bitonio, who has weathered numerous regime changes since being drafted by Cleveland in 2014, offered a unique historical perspective. Having played under coaches who struggled to eclipse three wins in a single season, the veteran guard emphasized the stability and competitiveness Stefanski has instilled, even if the current results fall short of the team’s internal standards.

“I know it is what you’ve done now, but we’ve been to two playoff games. We’ve had winning records. We’ve been competitive,” Bitonio noted. “Is it where we’re at right now? We don’t want to be there. But I think if we get the right pieces and we keep improving, I think that’s a guy you can build around.”

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The 2025 campaign has been particularly trying for Cleveland. Preseason outlooks were grim, with many outlets ranking the Browns near the bottom of the league, a reality Bitonio alluded to when discussing the gap between external expectations and locker room culture.

“If you want to go look back at the preseason rankings, I think everybody had us at 31 or 32, and that’s not what we strive for or what we want,” Bitonio said. “When you talk about expectations and reality and things of that nature, I have the utmost respect for him.”

Bitonio’s comments come at a critical time. With a “six-year sample size,” critics argue that the window for success is closing. However, the Pro Bowl guard pointed to the locker room’s continued motivation as evidence that Stefanski has not lost the team. “I think you saw it this last week. The team is motivated to play. We’re trying to win games. I think he has respect in the locker room,” he added.

For Bitonio, the calculus is simple: Stefanski has achieved heights, with 11-win seasons, playoff victories, and individual accolades, that his predecessors could not reach.

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“Some of the other coaches that I’ve played for, they had three wins. They didn’t have 11 wins. They didn’t have playoff wins,” Bitonio concluded. “I just think you keep allowing him to coach the Browns, I think you will be in a good place in the future.”

Whether ownership shares Bitonio’s patience remains the defining question of the Browns’ offseason.

This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns OL Joel Bitonio backs HC Kevin Stefanski after long two seasons