Landry’s presence provides a big lift
Browns coach CLEVELAND —
Hue Jackson handed out a number of game balls after the team’s first win since Dec. 24, 2016.
No one earned theirs more than Jarvis Landry, the 5-foot11, 196-pound wide receiver who caught eight passes for 102 yards in a 21-17 victory over the New York Jets on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium. However, whether Landry would even play remained a question until deep into the week.
“I called Jarvis earlier [Thursday] to see because I know he was not feeling as well,” Jackson said. “He did not practice much, and I know he was going to run early today and he said, ‘Coach, don’t you worry about me. I got you.’
Landry immediately became quarterback Baker Mayfield’s favorite target once the rookie No. 1 overall draft choice got the call to go into the game for a concussed Tyrod Taylor toward the end of the first half.
In a Browns field-goal drive during the two-minute drill, Mayfield found Landry on two passes for 30 yards. Later in the game after running back Carlos Hyde scored on a 1-yard run, the duo connected on a unique twopoint conversion on which they switched roles with a wide-open Mayfield catching Landry’s pass to tie the game at 14-14.
Even with the two not getting many reps in practice, it’s clear they’ve developed some type of chemistry. Mayfield’s play electrified everyone, including Landry.
“I promise you, it is just a testament to how he has worked since the day he stepped into this building and not having that backup mentality,” Landry said. “He was so ready for this moment. He was prepared for this moment. He grabbed it by the horns.”
But Landry provided a playmaker necessary for Mayfield to do so, and certainly showed why the Browns acquired him from the Miami Dolphins and rewarded him with a contract extension worth $75 million over five years with $47 million guaranteed.
“To me, the game he had was outstanding. That was one of the biggest reasons why we won,” Jackson said. “He had some huge plays. It is good to hand out those game balls.”
The Philly special
Some might say the twopoint conversion the Browns used to tie the game resembled the one the Philadelphia Eagles used in their Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in February. Jackson said that’s not the case.
“I know everybody wants to think that,” he said. “We have had that in our back pocket for a while. Go check my tricks from before, and go check [offensive coordinator] Todd’s [Haley] tricks from before. We all have them. It is just when you pull them out and use them. That is what that is.”
Left guard Joel Bitonio said he thought the coaching staff saw the Eagles pull it off in the Super Bowl and realized they could do it.
“The funny thing is Tyrod had taken every rep on it,” he said, “so Baker hasn’t run it at all. First rep was a perfect rep, though. He did good.”
“We ran that before. We were on the sideline. He comes to me and says, ‘[You] better throw me that ball. No matter what.’ I said, ‘I got you,’ ” Landry said.
On the play, Browns running back Duke Johnson took a direct snap, pitched to Landry who was sweeping from right to left in the backfield and the wide receiver tossed to Mayfield for the points as he promised.
“It is something that we have been working on for a couple of weeks. [Mayfield] was ready for the opportunity,” Landry said.
He was indeed. After offsetting penalties caused the conversion chance to be played over, the coaches decided it was the perfect spot to attempt the bit of trickery and it paid off.
“[I’ve] never taken a rep of it, but watching Ty do it all through practice, it is not too hard to walk up to the line and call a cadence and kind of just stand there,” Mayfield said.
He understood what the play did for the fans at FirstEnergy Stadium and the game’s momentum.
“Anytime you can get the crowd to be a factor, kudos to the crowd,” he said. “They played a factor late in the game. Anytime you can get them to be your 12th man, as cliché as that sounds, it is the truth. Whatever we have to do to fire them up to affect the other offense, it is great.”