While Odell Beckham Jr. thanked fans and revealed his emotions in the wake of his season-ending knee injury, Jarvis Landry is leading the way as the Browns move on without their three-time Pro Bowl receiver.
In a heartfelt story posted on Instagram Friday, Beckham made his first comments since he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee Sunday at Cincinnati.
"I just wanna thank you all for Checkin on me... this is tough really ... tough, I really don't have many words right now definitely not the right ones at least," Beckham wrote. "I couldn't tell u why this happened, this one doesn't make much sense, it's not for me to question, but I believe God truly has a plan and is using me for it.
"Ton of emotions flowing.. just takin some ME time, some time to heal. Thank u all for the Luv... be back soon."
Beckham went down with 8:21 remaining in the first quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. He was trying to tackle cornerback Darius Phillips, who had picked off Baker Mayfield's pass intended for Beckham.
As the Browns (5-2) prepare to host the Las Vegas Raiders (3-3) Sunday, teammates have spoken about the energy Beckham brings in games and at practice and how they will cope without him.
"I will definitely miss him because he is a passionate player. He is a hell of a player. We just have to pick up where he left off," defensive end Myles Garrett said Friday on Zoom. "Someone has to step up and be a threat for us in the wide receiver room, which I know they can. That energy, I think guys can make up for that. You can't make up for him as a player or as a person, but we have to do it together."
Garrett wasn't ready to declare Beckham a future Hall of Famer, but appreciates his elite skills.
"He's proven that he has talent that is among the very best," Garrett said. "It is hard to say Hall of Fame talent for anyone unless they are done ... I think he has potential and he has the ability. This is one setback. It is not going to change his trajectory. He is going to come back, and I feel like he is going to come back the way AP (Lions RB Adrian Peterson) did and get his revenge tour."
After Beckham went out, his close friend and former Louisiana State teammate Landry immediately began to help fill the void. His awareness under pressure proved critical in the final seconds of the Browns' 37-34 victory over the Bengals.
As the Browns trailed by three and lined up to spike the ball with 17 seconds remaining, Landry looked to the other side and noticed that rookie tight end Harrison Bryant wasn't on the line of scrimmage. He motioned for Bryant to move up. If Bryant hadn't, the Browns would have been called for an illegal formation, which would have resulted in a 5-yard penalty and a 10-second runoff. After Mayfield clocked it, he threw the game-winning 24-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones with 11 seconds to go.
"He almost tore a pec he (was) waving so hard to tell Harrison to get on the line," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said of Landry on Zoom. "He's a very heady player. Showed that play to the team this morning. On Friday, we show them a lot of clips from around the league to understand situational ball.
"The first play of that drive, you had Donovan Peoples-Jones get tackled, he is trying to get up and the guy will not let him get up, and he flips the ball. A rookie flips ball to another rookie, Harrison Bryant, who runs the ball in to (center) JC Tretter. The guys as a team I think are really working hard to have that shared situational awareness. Jarvis, the veteran than he is, has been in those moments and understood what had to be done."
Pass game coordinator/receivers coach Chad O'Shea said the Browns will make up for the loss of Beckham "by committee," and that Landry, playing with a broken rib, will continue to have a big presence.
"I don't think one player can replace any other player, regardless of who it is. Jarvis has a very big role in our offense and a lot has to do with the game plan," O'Shea said.
O'Shea knows Landry was down about Beckham's bad news, which a Monday MRI confirmed.
"Any time you have a player on your team get injured and a player you're so close to, there is a period of time that it takes," O'Shea said. "I think Jarvis did an outstanding job in the game — because he performed very well and was a big part of our success in that game — of moving on. That's not being disrespectful towards Odell, that's just what we have to do as professionals.
"He's done the same thing this week. He's certainly somebody the other guys look to. He brings an energy to the practice field and he brings an energy to the meeting room and shows the other guys that's the standard."
