Landry getting antsy about end zone touches
Productive wideout wants to soar past career high of five TD catches.
Wide receiver is on two-game touchdown reception streak he wants to continue against Jets, but says he needs opportunities.
DAVIE — A list of Dolphins with more self-confidence than Jarvis Landry would be short or nonexistent. We see it in the way he’ll catch a pass over the middle, then burrow through bigger men in search of the first-down marker. We hear it in his objections over his ranking in the NFL’s annual list of the top 100 players.
What we don’t hear is the kind of tone Landry used Thursday when talking about his frustrations over not reaching the end zone with greater regularity. A tone he used even though he’s on a two-game streak with a touchdown reception, with a chance at a career-first three-game streak
Sunday against the New York Jets.
Landry was outlining the reasons his touchdown receptions haven’t kept pace with his other statistics that rank among the best in team history, if not league history. He cited zone defenses, double coverage and a lack of red-zone targets that’s a byproduct of the team’s lack of red-zone trips.
“And before you know it, it’s another four-touchdown year,” Landry said.
Landry had five touchdowns in 2014 — respectable for a rookie — but followed with four in 2015, four last season and two this year.
And if you think that eats at him, you’re correct.
“As a competitor, it does, a lot,” Landry said. “But also as a team guy, I understand that if I’m getting doubled, then other guys have to make a play and that’s the only way we’re going to be able to score and the only way we’re going to be able to win.
“So my biggest thing is when I get the opportunity to get one-on-one or get the opportunity to set up in a zone if we decide not to run and the ball comes my way,
I have to make it.”
Landry scored on a 6-yard catch two weeks ago against the Titans, then added a 7-yard score by capitalizing on a blown assignment by the Falcons last week.
“I’ve love to make it three,” Landry said of his streak. “I’d love to make it four or five and get a couple this game, but we’ll see. That’s always my expectation. My expectation every game is 10 catches, 200 yards, three touchdowns. Every game, you know?
“We all know realistically ... “he added, his voice trailing off. “Again, I can only do what I do with my opportunities. So for me, I let myself down almost every week. But at the same time, I’ll take a ‘W’ over it anytime.”
Landry annually tapes a number on his locker corresponding to the ranking his peers assign him on the list of the NFL’s best 100 players. Last year, it was No. 98. Now, it’s No. 42. What if he had 10 or 12 touchdowns per season?
“I think that number would be a lot lower,” Landry said. “Maybe, probably, single digits for sure. But what can I say? All I could do is what I could do with the opportunities I’m given and that’s it.”
On this point, clarification is required.
“Absolutely not pointing fingers at the quarterback,” Landry said.
He doesn’t blame Jay Cutler, nor has he campaigned with Cutler or coach Adam Gase for more chances in the red zone.
“It’s not my thing,” he said. “I think those two guys, they know I want the ball. I try not to frustrate coach and I try not to make Jay force anything to me.”
Landry’s other statistics put him in elite company. He has led the team in receptions each of his previous three seasons, led them in receiving yards twice and shared team MVP honors with Reshad Jones in 2015. Landry also had the most
receptions of any NFL player in his first two seasons (194) and tied close friend Odell Beckham Jr. for most receptions over the first three seasons of a career (288).
The difference? Beckham had 35 TDs in that span to Landry’s 13.
Lining up in the slot, Landry is used to working in traffic. Even so, the end zone can be a different animal. It’s 10 yards long and defenders use the boundary lines as an extra defender. Getting as wide open as he did last week is a luxury.
“I wish I could say I had a lot of control over what happens when we get to the red zone and I don’t,” Landry said. “A lot of times it depends on what the defense is doing. I don’t know how many red-zone targets I’ve got over the last however-many years, but I’m sure it’s not a lot.”
Against the Falcons, Gase inserted a wrinkle in which Landry went in motion toward the right but circled back toward the left flat. No Falcons defender responded.
“When we have gotten down there, he’s been extremely productive,” offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said. “We’ve just got to get down there more, which happened in Atlanta. Then all of a sudden you have a chance to dial up, right? Coach Gase has his little section on the game plan that he wants to get to and we have to get him to the red zone so he can use them. That happened (last week) and (Landry’s) extremely productive.”
This is a contract year for Landry, and if the club wanted to play hardball, couldn’t a low touchdown total offer ammunition?
“Maybe,” Landry said. “But again, I’m getting doubled. It’s hard to design something for somebody that’s getting doubled. So I mean, how can either side argue that?”