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'Football is an emotional sport': Browns' Jerry Jeudy admits lack of targets 'frustrating'
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- 'Football is an emotional sport': Browns' Jerry Jeudy admits lack of targets 'frustrating'
BEREA — There was a moment last Sunday when the frustration was just too much for Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy .
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson's third-and-8 pass, thrown under heavy duress, had just sailed over Jeudy's head and into the Browns sideline with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter of a 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals . As Jeudy was walking to where the offense sits, he took off his helmet and flung it into the bench .
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Jeudy's frustration — caused by no catches on no official targets at that point in the game — was caught by the television cameras as well and shown on the broadcast. It was the perfect encapsulation to the entire season for the 1-6 Browns, who are in the midst of a five-game losing streak heading into Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens .
"Yeah, it is frustrating, but football is an emotional sport," Jeudy said Thursday. "Things like that happen sometimes. You just got to make sure you know how to control it."
Jeudy didn't get an official target until there was 9:25 remaining in the fourth quarter. Even that one never got close to him, as Thompson-Robinson's pass was batted down by a Bengals defensive lineman.
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy (3) drops a pass against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20 in Cleveland.
Jeudy finished with five targets and one catch for 18 yards. He also had the one moment of frustration caught on camera, which he acknowledged was a momentary loss of the control.
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"Yeah, I want to have that back, that's showing that emotion," Jeudy said. "I don't want to leave that emotion as well. Sometimes y'all see that and say, 'Oh, he's selfish.' But that's just somebody who passionate about the game, who works too hard throughout the week and year-round to come out there on Sunday and perform to their best ability.
"So it'd be tough when you're not capable of doing that due to certain circumstance, but you got to be better on that. By showing y'all I'm frustrated, I got to be better at that."
The Browns were forced to make a quarterback change twice against Cincinnati. Deshaun Watson 's Achilles injury led to Thompson-Robinson taking over with 1:22 remaining in the second quarter, and Thompson-Robinson's finger injury in the fourth quarter led to Jameis Winston taking over with 3:43 left.
The only target from Watson to Jeudy was officially wiped out by a penalty against Browns left guard Joel Bitonio . His first official target was the only one from Thompson-Robinson, while Winston targeted him four times with one completion.
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There were multiple times it appeared Jeudy was open, but the quarterback didn't look or throw his way. That included on the Browns' first offensive play, when he seemed to beat his defender on a deep crossing pattern, but Watson elected to check down to a short curl route that running back Nick Chubb couldn't hold onto.
Asked if there were more missed opportunities against Cincinnati than in previous games, Jeudy responded four times in a row with, "Y'all got to watch the film."
Jeudy arrived in Cleveland after a March trade from the Denver Broncos having gone from first-round draft pick to cast aside by the team who picked him after a stellar career at the University of Alabama. The Browns immediately showed him the love through a three-year, $58 million extension within a week of the deal being made official.
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The fifth-year pro was supposed to be the missing piece of the Browns offense. The reality has been that, while he's had his moments, it's not been enough to lift Cleveland out of the cellar in multiple categories, including the 30th-ranked passing offense and 32nd-ranked team in total offense.
The Browns have changed two major pieces of that offense, one because of injury and the other because of a coaching decision. Jameis Winston is replacing Watson, who suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, at quarterback, and offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey is taking over play-calling duties from coach Kevin Stefanski.
"We're going to see how the week goes, see what coach Ken likes to do," Jeudy said. "I can't really do nothing but do my job and run the routes that he calls for us. So we going to see how it goes."
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy warms up before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20 in Cleveland.
Jeudy has been one of the more productive pieces of the Browns offense, by comparison. His 40 targets and 266 receiving yards are both tops among the current Browns wide receiving corps, and his 21 catches are second only to Elijah Moore 's 22.
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After having at least six targets in each of the first four games, the five he had against Cincinnati were the most he's had in the last three games. Will a change in quarterback and play-caller result in a change in targets for Jeudy?
"Yeah, I mean, it is not on the coaches," Jeudy said. "They call plays for me to get the ball. It'd be just a whole bunch of other stuff going on that we can't control. We could just do our jobs. They try their best to get me involved, get you the ball, but there's so much they could do, so much we could do."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' Jerry Jeudy admits 'frustrating' lack of targets vs. Bengals
