BEREA, Ohio -- There is nothing quite like a short week to help the Cleveland Browns overcome a heartbreaking loss to the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans last Sunday.
The Browns had little time to process the 21-18 loss, in which four kicks were missed by now former Cleveland specialist Zane Gonzalez, as they have a short week ahead of their game against the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium on Thursday Night Football.
“This is good,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said Tuesday. “It is a quick turnaround. Obviously, we wanted to play as fast as we could after this past weekend. I think our guys are excited to get back out and play.”
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry added, “The two games that we played before this are tough, but we can’t dwell on it. We have to move past it, and by having a short week, I think the biggest thing for us and concern is making sure guys are healthy and making sure guys are ready to go for a short week and getting the game plan and being ready to go get it.”
In the first week of the 2018 regular season, the Browns overcame a 14-point deficit in the final seven-and-a-half minutes of regulation, but a blocked kick in the waning seconds of overtime secured a 21-21 tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Then, after leading for much of the day, the Browns surrendered back-to-back touchdown drives to quarterback Drew Brees and a late 44-yard field goal to kicker Wil Lutz, all of which sealed the come-from-behind victory for the Saints.
“We just have to make the plays,” Jackson said.
“Like I told our guys this morning, we have to make the plays that win games. We were not able to finish it last weekend. We were not able to finish it the weekend before that. If we get the opportunity, we have to nail it shut when they show up. That is what we have to do.”
Although the Jets come to Cleveland with a 1-1 record, including a dominant road victory over the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Week 1, and a young quarterback in Sam Darnold that has impressed with his ability to rebound from mistakes, the Browns are confident in the team that will be on the field Thursday night.
“I feel good about our team,” Jackson said. “Our team is excited, hungry, disappointed, anxious -- all of those words you want to use, but they are looking forward to playing at home on Thursday night because it is another opportunity for us to go out and get a win.
“I just think anytime we are competing against another organization and another team, we want to be at our best. We have not done that in a lot of tries, two this year. We have come a long way. We think we are headed in the right direction as an organization and as a football team, but the only thing that can validate that is winning.
“I do not care if it is Thursday night, Sunday or Monday. It does not matter. I think when we play, our goal is to go out and play well enough for four quarters to secure victory, and that is all we need to do.”
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