BEREA, Ohio — Freddie Kitchens likes Antonio Callaway as a person, but laid down the law Friday on what he must do to be a part of the Browns in the wake of his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

"We're not willing to put up with it, okay?’’ Kitchens said of Callaway’s misstep. “When you start talking in terms of that, the person that it's affected has to be willing to commit to doing what's right. So if he's willing to commit to doing what's right, then we're willing to support him in every way that we can, and that's what we're going to do until he proves us wrong.’’

Kitchens and Browns GM John Dorsey, who took a chance on Callaway in the fourth round out of Florida last year despite being suspended his final season for a credit card scam and a failed drug test at the NFL combine, sat down with Callaway and spelled it all out. He’s already broken his promise to Dorsey not to let him down, and now he has very little margin for error.

Callaway was already in Stage Two of the NFL’s substance abuse program, and if this suspension was his second misstep in Stage Two, he’s on to Stage Three where the stakes are much higher. A first transgression in Stage Three results in 10 games for marijuana and banishment from the league for at least a year for other banned substances.

“He knows what he has to do, so we’ll evaluate the situation as it goes forward,’’ said Kitchens. “But, yeah, if you talk about my relationship with Antonio, I'd say, 'Yes, I like the kid.' I think he's a good person. Sometimes people lump these sort of things into being a bad person. This is a great kid now. So we're going to support him until he proves us otherwise. He knows what he has to do, though."

In a statement released by the NFL, Dorsey acknowledged ’we’re disappointed in Antonio. He understands our expectations of him. We will continue to support him as long as he remains committed to taking advantage of the resources made available to him by our club and the league to help him become the best version of himself as a person first and foremost.”

Kitchens didn’t sound 100% convinced Callaway, who suffered a high ankle sprain during Thursday night’s 30-10 victory over the Redskins, will do his part.

“Hopefully, he does it,’’ he said. “Hopefully, he’s committed enough to do it.”

As for his level of concern that Callaway will mess up again, Kitchens said, “I’m not concerned. I’m about moving forward from here.’’

Kitchens wouldn’t say if the Browns knew the suspension was looming and if that’s why Callaway had been demoted to second-team offense. Even when Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry have rested, Callaway couldn’t crack the first team.

“That’s probably not for me to discuss,’’ said Kitchens.

He said Callaway’s attitude has been great.

“He has been working his tail off. He has gotten in shape. He has been doing better from a mental area standpoint, and he continues to work every day.”

He said Callaway “understands the significance of this, and he’s going to work to make things right.”

He’s not at liberty to discuss what Callaway did to get suspended or when it happened. Callaway was pulled over by the Strongsville police last season and was found to have a small amount of marijuana under the passenger seat of the car, but charges were dismissed in February.

“All those are things that I can’t speak on,’’ said Kitchens.

Callaway’s suspension came a day after the Browns traded Duke Johnson to the Texans for a fourth-round pick that can improve to a third. It marked the first round of adversity for Kitchens’ team.

“Anytime anything happens out of the norm could be viewed as adversity,’’ said Kitchens. “It is only adversity if you let it affect you. But I fully expect us to handle it very well. That's what we've been preparing to do.

“I’ve said from the beginning I can’t wait to see what kind of team we have when adversity hits because that’s going to let you look into the future and see what you’ve got. So we’ll see how we respond.”

Has he already seen the players pull together?

“I think I know how they feel about me and the staff, and I think that they know how we feel about them,’’ he said. “Now, we need to get them to feel that way towards each other and then we’ll have something. Not until then.”

Callaway was absent from the practice field Friday, but because of the high ankle sprain suffered in the game.

“To his credit, he played through it the rest of the first half, and it really swelled up on him at halftime,’’ he said. “It was [when he was] tangled up with the safety down the field.”

He said he doesn’t know if Callaway will miss the rest of the preseason, but it seems likely. With Damion Ratley still sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Browns will be on the lookout for receivers.

“I don’t know if you guys believe me or not, but our roster isn’t filled out yet,’’ he said. “We’re continuing to search for guys at all positions. Wide receiver is no different.’’