Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has conceded that cornerback Justin Gilbert needs to "mature" during the off-season to become a success in the NFL.
The Browns selected Gilbert with the eighth overall pick in the 2014 Draft, but the 23-year-old struggled to adapt to life in the NFL, leading to criticism from his teammates.
Gilbert's season ended on a low note when he was suspended by the team for the final game of the season, and Haslam has admitted that the cornerback has a lot of growing up to do during the off-season.
He told reporters: "Justin clearly needs to mature. I'm not telling you anything I hadn't told him in the past and hopefully he'll be able to do that. But we're fully supportive of Justin.
"He's a very gifted athlete and you saw a flash of it [when he returned an interception for a touchdown] in the Indianapolis game. [You] could argue that was maybe the best play we had all year.
"So he's clearly gifted, and we hope he can mature and understand what it means to be a professional. And it's a long year and long days. It's much different from college, where I think the work week's 20 hours, plus you play a game on Saturday. You play 12 games versus 16. The adjustment for some of these rookies is tough."
Gilbert recorded 29 tackles and one interception for the Browns in the 2014 season.
Simon Sinclair
