The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Felton dazzles in a pinch
Rookie scores on 33-yard catch and run
Demetric Felton answered the call for the Browns in their home opener Sept. 19 like a volunteer fireman jumping off his couch to respond to a four-alarm blaze.
The Browns prepared for the Texans all week knowing Odell Beckham Jr. would not play in the game. Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced the decision on Sept. 15 so the other receivers would get the bulk of practice time.
The Browns were not prepared for what happened on the second play. Jarvis Landry caught a short pass from Baker Mayfield over the middle and limped to the FirstEnergy Stadium sideline in obvious distress. He did not return with an injury later diagnosed as a sprained MCL. Landry is scheduled for an MRI the morning of Sept. 20.
Felton caught two passes against the Texans for 51 yards. One of them went for a 33-yard touchdown on a bubble screen. Baker Mayfield snapped a pass to him quickly on the left side to start the play. Felton used his blockers well, made a Landry-like spin move and broke two tackles on his way to the end zone and a 21-14 Browns lead with 7:50 to play in the third quarter.
“We said it early on — he’s going to be an important key in this offense, just because you can kind of see bits and pieces of when he was just getting the ball in his hands,” Mayfield said. “That showed today on the screen play.
“We’re going to continue to try and get him the ball and see how teams are going to try and defend him because he’s one of those hybrid guys that may create some mismatch problems. If they want to take a safety or another DB to cover him, then that means one of our tight ends has a linebacker. We have to play it to our advantage. We’re lucky to have him.”
Felton touched the ball twice in his NFL debut on Sept. 12 in the season opener in Kansas City. He returned a punt four yards and a kickoff 13 yards. Neither play was worthy of calling his mom to describe.
“I think he learned a lesson,” special teams coordinator Mike Priefer said of the Kansas City game. “He was probably nervous.”
Felton did not look nervous in his second NFL game. In addition to his two catches, he returned three punts for 22 yards and two kicks for 41 yards — one a 25-yard return. They weren’t spectacular, but he was clearly more comfortable than he was just seven days earlier.
Felton celebrated his touchdown by throwing the ball into the seats behind the goalpost at the west end of FirstEnergy Stadium. Fortunately for him, a security official was able to retrieve it. Felton will never score another first NFL touchdown and now he has the ball he scored with to remind him of the special moment.
“It was awesome,” the sixth-round draft choice from UCLA said. “It was a great experience. Everyone did their job, blocked for me, and I was able to get in the end zone.
“It’s a lot of things that we work on at practice, making moves once you get to the second level so I just did what my coaches have coached me to and it worked.”
Felton’s 51 receiving yards led the Browns. Tight end Austin Hooper had a team-best five catches.