Browns new linebacker Jamie Colliins sometimes lacked effort, and hasn't been playing well this season, Mike Lombardi said in a radio interview.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Former Browns general manager Mike Lombardi, who remains close to Patriots coach Bill Belichick, said Tuesday that linebacker Jamie Collins' contract wasn't a problem in New England -- but his effort was.
"Watch the tape. Jamie has not played particularly well," Lombardi said during his weekly appearance on the Kirk & Callahan show on WEEI 93.7 FM in Boston. "Sometimes freelancing is a problem, and I think sometimes effort is a problem."
Lombardi, who was fired by the Browns after the 2013 season, worked for the Patriots for the past two years while the Browns were still paying him. He's no longer with them, but remains in close contact with Belichick.
The Patriots traded Collins, a 2015 Pro Bowler, to the Browns for a third-round compensatory pick in 2017. The Browns hope to sign him to a long-term extension, but he's looking for "Von Miller money'' according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. That's more than $19 million a year.
"It's not about his contract. Let's forget that," Lombardi said. "Because if he was playing at a Pro Bowl level, as you believe he's playing, they would keep him and use him. But if he's playing at the level I've watched on tape there's really nothing you can do. You're better off trying to cut your losses and get something for him. It's nothing about the extension."
Coach Hue Jackson said Monday that the Browns would "love to keep'' Collins, whose rookie contract expires after this season, and that they didn't bring him in for an eight-game tryout. But Lombardi insisted he tape exposes his flaws.
"This is about football," Lombardi said. "This is about watching the player. Grade the player. People have a perception. If you studied the game tape and you understood the defense, and you understood everything that's going on, you would understand this is a football decision.''
He said he's talked to Collins about his motivation, or lack thereof.
"I've said this to this kid ... 'as good as we are, we go as you go,''' he said. "When he wants to play and he's really into it, he can be a very good player. Now, is there something going on in his life that I don't know about? But through eight games as a Patriot this season he had not been playing at a level that's acceptable to winning and beating good teams.''
He said, "the conversation we're having isn't about beating Landry Jones and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's about beating Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers in a championship game."
Lombardi said the Patriots had been taking Collins off the field on running downs, and weren't enamored with his coverage skills. He noted that rookie Landon Roberts had siphoned some of Collins' playing time.
"You look at some of the things that (Roberts) has done when he's been on the field and he's been pretty impressive," said Lombardi. "In order to get the best players on the field, especially on run downs, they benched Jamie last week in run situations so I think it became more convenient to trade him than it did to manage around him."
Jackson would 'love to keep' Collins
On Monday, Lombardi tweeted that the Patriots gave up a 28-yard run to the Bills on Sunday because Collins was freelancing on the play. It's likely no coincidence that the trade occurred in the week after Collins' snaps declined to 62 percent. The first four games, he played every snap.
Lombardi also questioned Pro Football Focus' ranking of Collins as the No. 9 linebacker in the NFL this season.
"Who's doing the grading?'' he said. "Evaluate the evaluator. I'd rather go with Bill Belichick's evaluation than Pro Football Focus."
He also bristled at the suggestion that he's serving as Belichick's mouthpiece.
"I have an opinion that's my opinion,'' he said. "I don't have to do anybody's bidding.''
In the September edition of the Improper Bostonian, Collins was asked if he'd rather watch college or pro football.
"Neither,'' he said. "I didn't grow up watching football, and I still don't. Me and Chandler Jones (who was traded by the Patriots in March) have talked about this since I first got up here. I never watched football. I never thought I'd be here, and I'd rather play video games. I don't really want to watch it.''
But Hue Jackson found Collins to be passionate about the game during a Monday phone conversation.
"He's kind of a quiet young man who the most important thing to him is playing,'' said Jackson. "This young man gets it.''
Jackson was also asked about Collins' tendency to freelance.
"He can freelance for me then,'' Jackson. "The way he freelances is OK with me. What happened there is not what is important for us here. We see a player that's very talented and has a tremendous skillset that fits in with what we do, so he's a Cleveland Brown now."