BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns acquired Jerry Jeudy last year with the expectation that he could be the team’s top receiver.
Instead, Jeudy has had a frustrating time in Cleveland and is leading the league in a category that no receiver wants to be a part of.
According to Sportradar, Jeudy has eight dropped passes. Four of his past eight games, have featured multiple drops, including three in last Sunday’s 23-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It is the fourth time an NFL receiver has had at least eight drops in the first six games since Sportradar started tracking dropped passes in 2009.
Compounding matters for Jeudy is that four of his past eight games going back to last season have featured multiple drops.
“I mean you’re going to be frustrated. It’s football, you’re going to be frustrated during the season, each game. You just can’t let that frustration carry over until the next week and into your playing style or into your habits,” said Jeudy, who is third on the Browns with 20 catches and second in receiving yards with 240.
Jeudy hasn’t exactly had a consistent quarterback to catch passes from during his six-year career. He has had 13 QBs, including six during his two seasons in Cleveland.
Dillon Gabriel has tried to develop a quick rapport with Jeudy. The rookie targeted Jeudy 13 times last week and he finished with five catches for 43 yards.
Gabriel and Jeudy nearly connected on a 34-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Jeudy was open in the end zone when Gabriel scrambled left, but the pass was wide left.
“I think it’s continuing our work together. I think Jerry’s hardest on himself and wants to play at a level for us as a team, but also himself as well. But I don’t think that’s ever going to stop our approach,” Gabriel said. “We believe in Jerry. Jerry believes in himself, and I think we’re going to just continue to work at it.
“That’s why I say, there’s a pitch and a catch and it takes two to tango, so you got to kind of help each other on that in that way.”
The Browns are hoping to get on track on offense at home on Sunday against Miami in a matchup of 1-5 teams.
Jeudy had 12 catches for 94 yards in last season’s 20-3 loss in Week 17.
“He’s a leader — we put a lot on his plate, we ask him to do a lot. So, he just needs to do what he’s capable of doing. I’ve seen it many, many times,” coach Kevin Stefanski said of Jeudy.
“I think you can learn from every play. It’s not a coaching point just to say, ‘hey, catch the ball’ — you got to tell your guys whatever it is, technique-wise, there’s all sorts of tricks to the trade in terms of looking it in and finishing the catch, the elements of the catch first before you turn, all those types of things.”
NOTES: TE David Njoku (knee), OT Jack Conklin (concussion) and WR Gage Larvadain (concussion) did not practice on Wednesday. Stefanski said Njoku’s status is day to day.
