The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
TIME WILL TELL WITH MAYFIELD, BECKHAM
Beckham Jr. entering third season with Browns, returning from ACL injury in 2020
One question that has hung over the Browns for more than two years has not been answered this training camp: Will Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham finally get in sync for what is supposed to be a deep playoff run in 2021?
Beckham has seven touchdown receptions and one rushing touchdown in 22 games with the Browns — a low output for the player who starred for the New York Giants from 201416, when he had 35 touchdown catches.
His stardom with the Giants faded in 2017 and ‘18 when injuries limited him to 16 games and nine touchdowns.
The Browns are keeping Beckham in bubble wrap as he continues rehabbing from surgery in November to repair a torn ACL suffered on the first play in Cincinnati on Oct. 25. He has worked on the side catching passes from Mayfield while special teams practice, but was not cleared to participate in seven-on-seven until Aug. 25.
Beckham progressed another step on Aug. 26 when he lined up for five 11-on-11 plays, but they were all runs, so he was only a decoy and did not have to fight a defender for a ball thrown by Mayfield.
“Anytime you can add an elite athlete and a great player like Odell back, it’s only going to make you better,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said before practice Aug. 26. “We’re doing a lot of work on the side. I know we’re not getting the timing in the team settings. But there’s a lot of timing work going on in between periods and during the special teams work.”
Beckham was targeted 133 times in 2019 when Freddie Kitchens was Browns head coach. He caught 74 passes. He was targeted 43 times last year and caught 23 passes.
Sometimes Mayfield tried to force the ball to Beckham. Sometimes when the pass was incomplete it was because their timing was slightly off. Beckham and Mayfield would stare at each other.
“I think the biggest thing is just consistency — consistency in route depth and consistency in route running techniques,” Van Pelt said. “Once the quarterback has that vision of what that looks like, then he can play faster and anticipate getting the ball out quicker because he knows exactly what’s going to happen.
“We always preach consistency — be at the right depth and use the right techniques, and the quarterback now can easily pick up the body language and it starts building that rapport with your receivers.”
No matter how the Browns try to spin it, the numbers show the offense took off last season after Beckham was injured. That doesn’t mean the Browns are better without Beckham.
They were on their bye two weeks after the game in Cincinnati and used the time to weed out what wasn’t working and refine what did work. Plus, players were still learning the offense of first-year head coach Kevin Stefanski. They were unquestionably behind division rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore because those teams had established offenses and defenses.
Mayfield threw 16 of his 26 touchdown passes last season after Beckham was sidelined. He threw 11 of them in the final six games. The 23-16 loss to the Jets, in which he did not throw a touchdown pass, should be marked with an asterisk because close contact with a person testing positive for COVID-19 forced the Browns to leave wide receivers Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples Jones and KhaDarel Hodge at home.
Beckham has not been made available to the media this training camp. He spoke with reporters for about five minutes at his football camp last month.
“Scoring 40 points a game, you see how the offense starts to click,” Beckham said on July 25. “It’s a new team, a new coach. Everything in life deals with time. I think it was just a matter of time until everything got rolling, which it did. I’m excited to be back and be part of that. I’m in a different place mentally.”
The Sept. 12 season opener in Kansas City is two weeks from Sunday. Neither Stefanski nor Van Pelt will say whether Beckham will play against the Chiefs. Beckham was vague a month ago when asked about playing in the opener.
“At this point, we’re just running our race,” he said. “In the past, I’ve been caught up in this question. Whenever I’m ready to get out on the field, that’s when it will be.
“Whenever the team, the docs, my team, clears it, we’ll be ready — Week One, Week 17, I don’t know. Whenever we’re ready, we’ll be ready.”
The Browns are being extra cautious with Beckham to limit setbacks that would prevent him from playing against the Chiefs. But Stefanski is planning for a 17game season. He will keep Beckham in the stable if he is convinced Beckham needs more time to heal.
Notes
Higgins had his right thigh wrapped in ice and did not finish practice. … Cornerback Denzel Ward participated in 11-on-11 for the first time since Aug. 6. He had been sidelined with soreness. … Right tackle Jack Conklin returned to practice after missing Aug. 25 with illness. … Offensive lineman Chris Hubbard was rested. … Cornerback Greedy Williams (groin) and safety Grant Delpit (hamstring) did not practice.