Losing your entire group of starting receivers less than 24 hours before a game is certainly less than ideal. And judging by the result of the Browns’ 23-16 loss to the hapless New York Jets, they could have used Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins and Dovonan Peoples-Jones.
Although the Browns were without their top three pass catchers, head coach Kevin Stefanski preached that was no excuse to lose to a team that came into the game with a 1-13 record.
“That has nothing to do with the result of this game,” Stefanski told reporters after the game. “We got beat. We had plenty of guys. We had all of the guys we needed and we didn’t get it done.”
The Browns’ three fill-in receivers, Marvin Hall, Derek Willies and Ja’Marcus Bradley, combined for six catches for 72 yards on 13 total targets. Bradley accounted for the majority of that total with his 60 receiving yards on five receptions.
With a combination of miss throws, dropped passes and incorrect routes ran, Baker Mayfield finished 28-of-53 for 285 yards and no touchdowns. Stefanski still insisted on the absence of his three starting receivers was not the reason the Browns lost.
“I think you’ll talk to Baker shortly and he’ll agree with what I am telling you guys,” Stefanski said. “We had all of the players we needed. We had plenty of [guys] active. We trusted the guys that we were playing today. That’s why they’re Cleveland Browns. That’s not the story here.”
Before the game, the Browns spent the morning in a parking garage adjacent to the team hotel running through their walkthrough which was canceled yesterday. Although Cleveland’s fill-in receivers Marvin Hall, Derek Willies and Ja’Marcus Bradley had yet to see game action all year, they were prepared for this afternoon’s game.
“It was a little too late in the week to wholesale change everything and we didn’t need to,” Stefanski said. “Those guys were in all the meetings. They were at the walkthroughs and at practice. They understood the plan.”
