CLEVELAND — For the first time since being traded to and signing a lucrative long-term extension with the Cleveland Browns in March of 2018, Pro Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry will face his former team, the Miami Dolphins.
The Browns welcome the Dolphins to FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland today, and the veteran pass catcher would be remiss if he did not have a little bit extra motivation to perform at the highest level and lead his current team to victory.
“No, it wasn’t circled … I’m lying. I’m lying,” Landry said with his trademark smile after practice earlier this week at Browns headquarters in Berea.
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Over his four-year career with the Dolphins, Landry turned 400 catches into 4,038 yards and 22 touchdowns. He averaged 10.1 yards per catch and 63.1 yards per game to go along with 38 catches of at least 20 yards, seven 40-yard plays and 220 first downs.
The 5-foot-11, 208-pound Landry had two 110-catch seasons (2015, 2017) and two 1,100-yard years (2015, 2016) on his resume coming to Cleveland.
In 2015, Landry set a then-career high with 110 catches, which he turned into 1,157 yards and four touchdowns and averaged a personal-best 72.3 yards per game. He followed that up with a 94-catch, 1,136-yard, four-touchdown showing in 2016.
In 2017, the Convent, Louisiana native and Louisiana State product caught a career-high 112 passes for 987 yards and a personal-best nine touchdown receptions.
In the first two years of his NFL career, Landry returned 47 kickoffs for 1,275 yards, including 35 20-yard returns and five 40-yard bursts.
“It’s definitely an emotional period for me, just knowing that was the place I was drafted at, a lot of history, a lot of the things I did career-wise started there,” Landry said. “It’s going to be good to see a couple guys that I still have contact with and play against ‘em.”
During his first season with the Browns after the trade from the Dolphins in the 2018 offseason, Landry turned his 81 receptions into 976 yards and four touchdowns, rushed for 60 yards and one score on just three attempts and completed one of his two passes for 63 yards.
Additionally, Landry, who earned Pro Bowl status for his contributions to the team, completed a two-point conversion pass to quarterback Baker Mayfield in a 21-17 win over the Jets on Thursday Night Football at FirstEnergy Stadium in Week 3.
Through 10 games this season, Landry has caught 49 passes for 695 yards, 33 first downs and three touchdowns, and he is very much looking forward to building on those numbers and helping the Browns earn a victory over the Dolphins.
“I’m just ready to go at the Miami Dolphins,” Landry said. “I don’t really hold onto it. At the time when it happened, maybe then, just how things were communicated. Now, I’m happy to be here like I spoke to you guys when I first got here. Happy to be here, happy about the opportunity. This is definitely one of the games that I knew in two years, I’d get a chance to have. I’m happy it’s here.”