Browns comment on Mike Hall Jr.’s arrest for domestic violence
Browns rookie Mike Hall Jr. participated in a joint practice with the Vikings on Wednesday after being arrested on domestic violence charges on Tuesday.
BEREA — Mike Hall Jr. returned to the practice field for the Browns on Wednesday, a day after the rookie defensive tackle was arrested by Avon police. However, his practice day ended early when he suffered an unspecified injury during a joint workout with the Minnesota Vikings.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, meanwhile, had little to say about the situation, neither about Hall’s arrest nor about the decision to see him on the field the day after the arrest.
“I can’t go into all the details, folks,” Stefanski said at the end of the training. “I just want to tell you that we’re letting the legal process play out.”
Hall, 21, was arrested by Avon police on Tuesday morning on domestic violence charges. The incident, which involved him and his fiancée and his fiancée’s mother, occurred Monday evening at the apartment the couple shared.
The Browns’ April second-round pick out of Streetsboro High School and Ohio State was on the field for the Browns’ morning walk-through, which was closed to the media. He was a full participant in the afternoon joint practice with the Vikings until he left the field with the assistance of medical staff after an unspecified injury.
Hall was injured when the Browns defense battled the Vikings offense in 11-on-11 drills on a field. He spent several minutes on the floor toward the end of the period and was tended to by several medical personnel.
Fellow defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson hung around for a few minutes before tapping Hall on the shoulder and joining his teammates nearby. Stefanski also spent some time nearby before heading to the adjacent field as well.
Stefanski was unable to provide immediate updates on Hall’s injury status after practice, and when asked multiple times about Hall’s participation in practice just 24 hours after his arrest, he didn’t have much else to say.
“Frankly, I understand your question,” Stefanski said, “but for us it’s about trusting the process, and that’s what it’s about.”
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Stefanski was the first member of the Browns’ front office or coaching staff to comment on the subject of Hall’s arrest. No one else in that role, including general manager Andrew Berry, was available for comment Wednesday.
The Browns head coach was asked if he and Berry had had discussions about disciplining Hall, to which he replied, “With all due respect, and I understand the question. I don’t have much to add.”
Stefanski’s answers to most questions about the newcomer varied between “Trust the process,” “We have to respect the process,” and “Let the process continue.”
Three hours before the Browns took the practice field to face the Vikings, three of Hall’s teammates — linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, safety Rodney McLeod and wide receiver Elijah Moore — were available to the media as usual. Both McLeod and Moore were asked about Hall.
“Yeah, I mean, everyone, we’re a team,” McLeod said. “We’re a family. And we understand that certain things are going to happen and you have to treat them that way. We’re all human, so we’re just trying to learn more about what happened and we’ll handle things accordingly.”
Moore added: “We just sit there and pray for him. Life happens outside of football, too. We can just focus on what’s happening in the building and pray for him no matter what’s happening outside.”
The young defensive tackle had made a strong impression during the first half of training camp, putting in a strong performance in the Browns’ season opener against the Green Bay Packers before a domestic dispute erupted on Monday night that led to his arrest.
According to police reports, officers were dispatched Monday to the home owned by Hall and his fiancée, with whom he had a son last September. The caller, his fiancée’s mother, said Hall “pushed her daughter (name redacted) and hit her with a baby bottle,” according to the report.
The official statement in the police report states that Hall verbally abused her at times during the incident and dragged her out of the house and down the driveway by her feet. He also later punched a hole in a bedroom door and held a gun to her head while saying, “I’m going to (expletive) end it all. I don’t care,” according to the report.
Hall had left the apartment before police arrived. He was arrested by Avon police the next morning and arraigned in Avon Lake Municipal Court, where he posted $10,000 bail and was ordered not to have contact with his fiancée.
Reach Chris Easterling at [email protected]. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ