BEREA, Ohio — If the Browns want to be explosive and score some points, they need the Joe Flacco-to-Jerry Jeudy Express to get rolling.
Heading into Sunday’s game against the 2-1 Lions, Jeudy has caught only 10 passes for 134 yards, and the Browns are averaging only 15.3 points per game for 30th in the NFL.
There’s a direct correlation, and the 1-2 Browns must hope they get it turned around in a hurry.
During Sunday’s 13-10 victory over the Packers, Jeudy caught only 1 of 5 targets for 17 yards, and didn’t have the ball thrown his way until 51 seconds remained in the half. He responded with a fine, leaping catch over the middle for 17 yards. He got another one the next play, but fell down before the ball arrived.
His third came with four seconds left in the half on what amounted to a Hail Mary, and it was picked off by safety Xavier McKinney.
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Flacco, who developed instant chemistry with Amari Cooper in 2023, knows how vital it is for him to connect with is No. 1 wideout. But he also knows the consequences of forcing out, and he’s trying like heck to protect the ball. His starting job, and possibly his career, depends on it.
“You do have to let it come,” said Flacco, who’s tumbled to 31st in the NFL with a 65.9 rating. “At the same time, it’s important. If he’s going, then we’re going to be going good. And at the same time, you could come up with things throughout the week and obviously you’re doing that every week. You’re gameplanning to get certain guys the ball in certain situations and all that, but if you start to force things — we’re playing good teams right now.
“You start to force things against good football teams, then usually bad things happen and those kind of football teams take advantage of that. So I think it can be frustrating for him, for me, especially when we’re just not putting up as many points as we want to anyway. But man, you’ve got to fight that urge big time.”
Jeudy, who’s 10 catches are tied for 71st in the NFL, and who’s 134 yards are 61st, has been feeling it too.
“We’ve been doing everything we can,” Jeudy said. “The biggest thing is just staying consistent and eventually those games are going to happen and we’re going to get to where we need to go. But the biggest thing is just staying consistent and just see what happens from there.”
Flacco, who has a mandate this season to protect the ball, hasn’t felt the need to talk to Jeudy about their slow start. Both know that some connections take time.
“We haven’t, and maybe at some point you have to, but I would hope not,” Flacco said. “It’s funny, because I get these questions up here, but I don’t really think about those things. Listen, I do want to go out there and throw for 300 every day and do all those things. I want him to have 150 every week, but that’s just not how this league works all the time. You’ve got to stay patient and when your number’s called, I think if you are in that patient mindset, then you’re going to be the most ready to strike when the opportunity is ready for you. And I think that’s all we can do.”
In Week 1, the 17-16 loss to the Bengals, Jeudy caught 5 of 8 targets for 66 yards, but had two drops, including one that went off of his hands and was picked off. It was one of two deflected picks that game, the other glancing off Cedric Tillman’s hands. He had one other drop this season, against the Ravens, and then Hail Mary pass that was intended him for picked off, but that doesn’t really count.
In both the Ravens game and at times during the Packers game, Jeudy was open and Flacco didn’t look his way. After that 41-17 loss to the Baltimore, he was asked about tight coverage, and he said, “did you watch the film?” It was clear he felt there were times he should’ve been targeted.
A couple of times, Jeudy looked a little frustrated on the field or sidelines, but he’ll never apologize for his passion. He’s always been able to move onto the next play, and most of the time, make the next catch.
“I pride myself playing with a lot of emotion but not playing emotional,” he said. “So I just do what I’m supposed to do. Of course when you’re playing a competitive game like this, you’re going to have a lot of emotions and energy, so that’s just a part of the game.”
Flacco complimented his receivers after the Packers game and again Wednesday for keeping their cool through the shutout for the first 56 minutes of the game. It wasn’t until the final 3:38 that the Browns scored 13 unanswered points, thanks to some big Quinshon Judkins’ run, the Grant Delpit interception, and the blocked field goal that set up Andre Szmyt’s gamewinning 55 yard field goal as time expired.
“I’m not even saying that spirits were up,” Flacco said. “I don’t think spirits were very high, but at the same time, it’s just obvious the way that we continued to play throughout that game that everybody was able to keep a level head to some extent. It’s never going to be perfect and you’re definitely going to be emotional in those situations, but everybody was able to keep it together just enough to go out there and do the right thing.”
Jeudy, who earned his first 1,000-yard season and Pro Bowl last season with Jameis Winston slinging him the ball, spent his first four years in Denver dealing with the frustration of not getting the ball enough. It wasn’t until last season, when Winston took over for an injured Deshaun Watson, that Jeudy started to reach his full potential. \
“The good thing is I dealt with that, so the biggest thing is just having the right mindset and just knowing this is the game of football,” he said. “One week you might not get no catches. Next week you might have 10, 14, 20 catches and a week after that you might not get no catches again. So the biggest thing is just staying the course, staying levelheaded and just knowing eventually your time will come and just being patient. You’ve just got to know it is a part of football.”
Flacco, who’s turned the ball over 14 times in his last seven starts, including those two deflected picks in Week 1 and the Hail Mary in Week 3, knows that he can’t start pressing like he did in Baltimore, where he made a horrible throw to a double-covered David Njoku while being flushed to his right. It was returned 61 yards to the Ravens’ 5, where Lamar Jackson cashed with a 2-yard TD pass. If Flacco plays within himself there, the Browns, down only 13-3 before the pick, have a chance to climb back in the game. Instead, he compounded it with a sack-scoop-score two drives later that put the game out of reach at 34-10.
Flacco knows that the Browns won’t hesitate to hand the reins to rookie Dillon Gabriel if he’s giving the ball away. It’s bad enough the Browns aren’t scoring, but the turnovers are Kevin Stefanski’s kryptonite
“The biggest thing for me right now, when you’re 18 years in, it’s even more clear now than ever that it’s truly about winning football games and nothing else,” Flacco said. “So I honestly do think it’s, obviously you have to give yourself those reminders all the time, but I think when that’s what is in the forefront of your mind, then it’s easy to kind of just do what you have to do.”