The Cleveland Browns’ comeback win on Sunday against Carolina overshadowed a relatively poor day for the wide receivers.
Cleveland’s “big 3” of Jerry Jeudy (zero targets), Denzel Boston (four targets), and KC Concepcion (nine targets) were targeted a total of 13 times, but only pulled in four receptions for 50 yards and no touchdowns.
While some of that can be attributed to quarterback Deshaun Watson misfiring on some passes, most notably to Concepcion, it will be difficult to win without more production
from the position.
Head coach Todd Monken was asked about the situation on Tuesday, primarily the adjustment that rookies have to make at the NFL level, and said the bumps are to be expected and have nothing to do with the talent or work habits of either rookie receiver:
“First of all, you talk about two young men that are diligent, highly intelligent; it’s important to them to get it right. And at times we forget that they’ve played three games in the NFL, because we want to move them around; we want to find different spots we can play them, right? And at times it’s counterproductive, because we just haven’t gotten through all of the nuances that go with each spot, whether you’re inside or you’re outside, or whether you’re in the boundary or to the field, what looks you get on a given week.
“And that’s some of the struggles we’re having offensively with so many young players, whether it’s a tight end or running back or O-line, you’ve got so many things that come up where you’re like, ‘OK, there’s not as much to really refer back to from an experience standpoint.’ And those aren’t excuses; we’ve got to be cleaner, we’ve got to play a lot better, got to coach it better. But those guys are constantly on top of their stuff, and you can see it, and that’s a real credit to them at a young age. And they’ve got a lot of reps doing it, but they’re only going to continue to get better and better and better once they play extended plays and extended games.”
It is not all on the receivers, of course, as the offensive line needs to give the quarterback time to throw and the quarterback has to deliver a catchable pass, something that Watson struggled with for much of the game against the Panthers.
For his part, Watson highlighted the importance of time on task for the rookies:
“There are different looks (from the defense). At the same time, these guys are rookies, KC and (Denzel) Boston. Especially playing any receiver, or any person who knows that playing in the slot in the NFL is a lot. It’s a lot of different moving parts, a lot of different coverages. They can match; they can zone off; you’ve got linebackers, defenders. So, it takes some time to be able to recognize all the different coverages and things that defenses can do.
“And it’s week to week. Every team is different. You’re not going to get the same that you did in Tampa versus Carolina, same thing moving forward on Thursday night. So, that’s just kind of, the more reps, the more experience that we get playing with each other and seeing the same thing, it’ll get better for sure.”
But what about the lack of targets for Jeudy, the team’s presumptive No. 1 receiver, who has two receptions on the season (both in Week 1) and has been targeted only once in the past two games?
To his credit, Watson said his focus is on keeping the offense moving, rather than forcing the ball to any one particular player:
“At the end of the day, you got to take what the defense gives you. I think teams know we want to be explosive, but at the same time, you got to let it come to it. It’s got to happen naturally. Once you try to force those explosives and throw it downfield, and now you’re sitting at third-and-long, those are wasted plays. So, you’ve got to take them when those opportunities come and hit them. But at the same time, if it takes 20 plays to get a touchdown, then hey, that’s what we’re going to do.”
It has only been three games, and outside of a rough outing against the Panthers, both Boston (top among rookies with 195 receiving yards) and Concepcion (second among rookies with 12 receptions) have been off to a good start. As for Jeudy, the talent is there, so it is fair, for now, to expect him to get going sooner rather than later.
Even so, the Browns are not going to be able to survive offensively if the wide receivers are not an active part of the passing game, so Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers seems like a good time to get everyone back on track.
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