CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry prides himself on being an all-around player, and that means doing far more than catching passes from quarterbacks Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield.
Landry put that on display when he impeded the progress of two Buffalo defenders, namely rookie cornerback Taron Johnson, with a block that allowed running back Carlos Hyde to hustle across the goal line for a first-quarter touchdown in a 19-17 loss to the Bills at FirstEnergy Stadium last Friday night.
“It’s an attitude, and it also shows how unselfish he is and how unselfish our receivers are,” Taylor said.
“For those guys to be willing to put their bodies on the line and go out and block and open up lanes on the outside for the running backs, it’s a team effort, and it takes all of us, as well as myself, getting the offense into the right run as well as us counting on the receivers to go out there and hold their blocks on the end. It’s an attitude across the board, and we have to have that every play.”
.@elguapo from 4 yards out ….
Touchdown, #Browns! #BUFvsCLE pic.twitter.com/jqKZCOan06
On second-and-goal from Buffalo’s four-yard line with 9:15 to play in the first quarter, Taylor took a snap from under center and handed off to Hyde, who initially, ran up the middle of the field.
However, as Hyde bounced out to the right side of the formation, Landry hustled toward the center of the field one yard beyond the line of scrimmage and leveled a block that took down two Buffalo defenders and allowed the veteran rusher to leap his way across the goal line for the touchdown.
Several Buffalo defenders took exception with the block, which they considered to be an illegal crack-back, but Landry had the full support of his teammates and coaches.
“There was not a flag,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “It was a touchdown. That is all I can say. I think that Jarvis apologized if anybody got hurt. At the same time, this is football. It was not a penalty. Those things happen to our guys. It is football.
“He has to block. His job is to block and make it legal. It was a legal block. I think he did his job. He did not lead with his helmet. He hit with his shoulder.”
Like Jackson, Mayfield is confident plays like Landry’s sets “a mentality and a tone not just for the offense, but for the whole team.”
“When you have a guy willing to do his job at that level, that’s not the most glorious play,” Mayfield said. “He’s not catching for a touchdown, but he’s blocking for a touchdown, and he takes pride in that.
“The celebration he did after that was more than anything I’ve seen him do after a good catch, and that just shows what type guy he is. He’s a team-oriented guy. Those are the type of leaders we want on this team. It’s the culture change we want to make, assure it’s happening every day. That’s great to see.”
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