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BEREA, Ohio -- One of the many appropriate and insightful things that Donte Whitner had to say about Greg Little's ramblings about making someone pay because the Cleveland Browns cut him was this: "Bulletin board material is like an imaginary thing. The game is going to be played on a Thursday night. I'm not going to play any harder. He's not going to play any harder. If you are, then you've been cheating yourself and your football team." Which sums up Whitner -- and perhaps Little -- perfectly. Players who say they will play harder in any one game are basically admitting they didn't play as hard as they could in a previous game. One definition of being a pro is doing your best when you feel your worst. It all illustrates part of the reason the Browns brought Whitner to Cleveland as a free agent in the offseason. First is he's a good player -- and Whitner has had two very good games in a row the past two weeks. But the team also wanted someone who had been in a winning culture and been through the biggest of games, and Whitner had done that in San Francisco, playing in both the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. He's also been through Thursday night games, so when he talks about the upcoming game between the Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, it's worth listening. "It's a different feel," he said, "until the ball is kicked off. Then it's just normal football." It's true of all hyped regular-season games. There's a lot of talk and hoopla and excitement, but when the game starts, it's a game like any another. (See Cleveland Cavaliers opener.) Whitner and guys like Karlos Dansby and Paul Kruger have been on teams where night games and changed routines were regularities because winning teams get more prime-time games. Coach Mike Pettine admitted the team wants more of them because of what they mean. The key to the games, in Whitner's mind: "Keep everything the same. Don't allow the lights and the magnitude of the game to affect you. Use the fundamentals and use the things that have helped us win five games." Which might be easier said than done for guys who have not been through it. Players gear up for night games. They know they're the only team playing and the entire nation will be watching. They are excited about it. Many years back, Butch Davis coached a struggling Browns team but the defensive backs came up with a gimmick to "brush off" a teammate who made a good play, just because it was Monday night. It's not difficult to go overboard. Whitner does not deny there is plenty of buzz about the Browns heading into the game, but he doesn't want that to affect the team's preparation. "My role is more important just to make sure the guy doesn't get stage fright or worry about the added cameras or just it being a nationally televised game," he said. "We have to go out there and play our game as if it's a 1 o'clock game, a 4:30 game." Whitner was made aware that the Bengals are 13-0-1 at home the last 14 games, and the Browns haven't won a road AFC North game since 2008. He had another succint response. "It was a daunting thing to play Ben Roethlisberger when he was 18-1 against the Browns," he said. "We don't worry about previous records." He admitted some guys could be star-struck, and the potential to play out of character is there. But he also said he doesn't foresee that happening. "We'll be ready," he said.
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