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BEREA, Ohio — Browns receiver Jerry Jeudy gave a matter-of-fact answer on Wednesday when asked if he was given any kind of reassurance that the team will make a more concerted effort to get him the ball. After all, head coach Kevin Stefanski has said publicly they need to do a better job of doing just that. More Cleveland Browns coverage What the Browns’ decision to keep David Njoku means for his future in Cleveland: Berea Report (Video) Can the Browns & Cavs get their offenses rolling?: Wednesday’s Sports 4 CLE How TE David Njoku feels about not getting traded, and what his Browns future holds with an expiring contract “We’re going to see on Sunday," Jeudy said. Jeudy, the Browns’ No. 1 receiver who had his first 1,000-yard and Pro Bowl season in 2024, continued his frustrating 2025 campaign in a Week 8 loss to the New England Patriots just before the Browns’ Week 9 bye. In that game, he had no catches on two targets, both of which came early in the fourth quarter. The first was on a third-and-6 rollout by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who threw a poorly-placed, high ball to Jeudy in the end zone. The second target was on fourth-and-11 on the same drive following a delay-of-game penalty, a contested look against Christian Gonzalez that Jeudy was unable to corral as Gonzalez had an inside angle. That was the first game in which Jeudy didn’t have a reception since Week 10 in the 2022 season when he was still with the Denver Broncos, the team that selected him in the first round of the draft in 2020 out of Alabama. In that game, he suffered an ankle injury on the first snap. The last game he went without a reception that wasn’t due to an injury was his second year in the league, a Week 15, 2021 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. He had four targets on 52 offensive snaps in that game. This season, as the 2-6 Browns losses have piled up, so have Jeudy’s drops as he tries to make big plays. He’s tied for the league lead with seven drops this season, per Pro Football Focus. But the Browns haven’t lost faith. “He’s our best wide receiver,” Stefanski said on Monday. “We believe in him. We have to do a better job and that’s what we’ll do.” Gabriel echoed his head coach when he spoke on Wednesday. “Jerry’s really good,” he said. “We want to get the ball into players’ hands that are really good and let them go do their thing. So just want to emphasize that. And we did it throughout the year but want to put it a point of emphasis for sure.” Jeudy appeared frustrated heading to the bench after that fourth-quarter sequence in that loss to New England. In the locker room after the game, he said “I have to go” when reporters approached him for an interview. Staving off frustration has been a process. “It is frustrating for sure, but I don’t really — I gotta focus on the next play,” Jeudy said. “You can’t hold that frustration in too long. If it don’t go the right way, I just think about, ‘OK, it’ll come the next play,’ If it don’t come the next play, I’m thinking, ‘OK, it’ll come the next game.’ You kind of trick your mind a little, kind of in a way.” The frustrations have not just been Jeudy’s among the Browns’ pass catchers. Receivers had only two of the 21 receptions against the Patriots. Both came from second-year receiver Jamari Thrash. Of the Browns’ seven receiving touchdowns this season, only two have come from receivers as well — both from Cedric Tillman. The Browns are ranked 29th in the NFL in passing yards per game (174) and dead last in passing yards per play (4.61). It’s been a team-wide struggle, one that Cleveland hopes to help change by switching play callers, with Stefanski giving up play calling duties to first-year OC Tommy Rees. The hope is that Rees, 33, just might bring a new energy, and maybe even college concepts to the table. He’s only two years removed from calling plays at Alabama under Nick Saban. “A great offensive coordinator, ‘Bama boy,” Jeudy said. “So hopefully he’ll do a good job this week.” But what is really the root of the issue? As the season has slogged on, why does Jeudy think it’s been harder for him to get the ball? “A lot of stuff just ain’t go as planned,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff that needs to happen right for the receiver to get the ball. It’s got to be the right coverage, it’s got to be the right look, so it is a lot of stuff that needs to happen to go right. It just hasn’t gone that way, unfortunately. But hopefully it goes on these next few games.” But for Jeudy it’s not just about getting touches, but when exactly those touches come. “As a receiver, it’s very important just getting touches early on, just to get the feel, momentum of the game,” he said. “As a receiver, that’s what we look for.” For a team searching for answers — and a receiver searching for the ball — Sunday against the Jets and the latest chance at a reset can’t come soon enough.
