NFL PLAYER NEWS

Browns’ Landry: Give OBJ the ball

Field Level Media

October 10, 2019 at 10:11 pm.

With the Cleveland Browns coming off an ugly loss that dropped their record below .500, irritation spilled out in the players’ comments Thursday — particularly regarding the amount of touches star wideout Odell Beckham Jr. is receiving.

Beckham had two catches for 27 yards Monday in Cleveland’s 31-3 loss at San Francisco, after he finished with just two receptions for 20 yards the prior week in the Browns’ 40-25 win at Baltimore. Beckham was targeted seven times in the Ravens game and six times in the 49ers game.

“I’m not calling plays or designing anything,” fellow wideout and college teammate Jarvis Landry said Thursday, according to the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. “But at the end of the day, obviously he’s a key part of our offense whether the ball’s in his hands or not. The way that it’s been going, we haven’t really been making enough plays without him touching the ball.

“So we’ve definitely got to find a way to include him even more in the offense and be intentional with it. It doesn’t matter if the defense knows it. We’ve got to be intentional with getting him the ball. Getting playmakers the ball, period.”

Beckham didn’t go so far as to criticize teammates or coaches, saying, “I hate losing, period. Any time we lose and I don’t feel like I did anything to help win the game, I’m gonna be frustrated. That’s just the bottom line. I’m a winner in my heart, and I hate losing.”

Quarterback Baker Mayfield agreed with Beckham’s comments.

“He feels like he could help us win if we get the ball in his hands,” Mayfield said. “It’s frustrating when he’s not getting the ball and we are losing. You can’t blame him. He’s one of the best receivers in the league, and when he’s not getting the ball, he always has it in the back of his mind of, ‘What if I did get the ball and changed this game?'”

The Browns did give Beckham two carries against the 49ers (good for 11 and 4 yards), put him on to return a punt (which he fumbled), and had him throw a pass on a trick play, a 20-yarder to Landry. But Beckham hasn’t had double-digit targets since Week 2.

“Our playmakers haven’t really been given a lot of opportunities to make plays,” Landry said, according to the Plain Dealer. “We’re 2-3 and easily a couple of those games, our record again could be flipped or 4-1. …

“I don’t call plays, right? So I just say just from my perspective we just have to be intentional. We have to just deliberately get him the ball. Get all of our playmakers the ball. Guys that are going to make plays for us, just get them the ball.”

For the season, Beckham has 23 catches on 43 targets for 335 yards and one touchdown, and Landry has 22 receptions on 39 targets for 403 yards and no TDs.