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RECAP: Cleveland Browns glad to get back to work after heartbreaking loss to New Orleans Saints

The Cleveland Browns continued their preparations for Thursday game vs. the New York Jets at their Berea training facility Tuesday.
Credit: Getty Images

4:23 p.m.-Hue Jackson, Cleveland Browns embrace short work week after heartbreaking loss to New Orleans Saints

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.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry stretches to make a catch during Monday's practice as the team prepares for the 2018 regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which will be played at FirstEnergy Stadium Sunday.

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.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry stretches to make a catch during Monday's practice at team headquarters in Berea.

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.”

3:25 p.m.-Browns teammates hope Josh Gordon 'finds his way' after trade to Patriots

BEREA, Ohio -- Josh Gordon struggled to stay on the field during his seven-year tenure with the Cleveland Browns, but the organization stood by him until Saturday, when they announced their intentions to part ways with the one-time All-Pro wide receiver.

And while disappointed Gordon is no longer in a Browns uniform, those he once shared the field with wished him well on the next leg of his NFL journey, which continues after Monday’s trade to the New England Patriots.

“I’m just hoping, for whatever reason, he’s okay with his life or whatever’s going on with him,” running back Duke Johnson Jr. said. “I hope he finds his way.”

Wide receiver Jarvis Landry added, “All I know from the times I spent with Josh, he’s a great person and he loves this game and he wants to play this game, so I wish him all the best, but we’ve got to move forward.”

After sticking by the talented, yet troubled wide receiver through multiple suspensions and off-the-field issues, the Browns reached the breaking point over the weekend when reportedly, Gordon was late to the team facility and showed up with a hamstring injury that took part in a non-team sanctioned event Friday.

The Browns announced their intentions to release Gordon after landing in New Orleans Saturday night for Sunday’s game against the Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Earlier in the day, the Browns announced Gordon was ruled out for the game because of a hamstring injury.

“I mean we get it,” Johnson said. “We get it at the end of the day. Regardless of whether we get it or not, it’s not our call. We’re players. They do everything else.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon catches a pass during Wednesday's practice for this weekend's regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.

A second-round pick of the Browns in the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft, Gordon turned 180 catches into 3,106 yards and 16 touchdowns. A Pro Bowl player in 2013, Gordon set a franchise record with an NFL-best 1,646 yards on 87 receptions with nine of those catches going for touchdowns after missing the first two games of the season because of a suspension.

However, after that Pro Bowl season, Gordon was suspended for 44 consecutive games dating back to the final week of the 2014 season, which was a team ban for reportedly missing a walk-through prior to a trip to Baltimore to play the Ravens.

Gordon has been suspended for a total of 56 games in his seven NFL seasons, 55 of which were league bans for positive drug and alcohol tests.

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon hustles through a drill during Monday's practice as the team prepares for the 2018 regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which will be played at FirstEnergy Stadium Sunday.

Despite his past issues, Gordon was welcomed back by the Browns late last season.

The Browns got a glimpse of what a healthy and focused Gordon could do over the last five games of the 2017 season after his return from his latest NFL-mandated suspension, which lasted nearly three full years.

In those five games, Gordon turned 18 catches into 335 yards and one touchdown. Additionally, Gordon was on the receiving end of five passes that went for gains of at least 20 yards and converted 12 first downs.

“I hope he does,” Johnson said of Gordon’s potential to succeed with New England.

“I really hope he does. Anybody I’ve dealt with, anybody I’m around that’s a good person and a good dude, I want him to do well. We play Isaiah Crowell this week. He’s a guy I root for every week. Not this week, but once we stop playing them or once this game is over, I root for him every week ‘cause I like to see good guys do well.”

2:30 p.m.-Antonio Callaway: I've got to step up for Cleveland Browns

BEREA, Ohio -- When opportunity knocks in the National Football League, it does not wait long for an answer.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway may be only two games into his career, but the speedy pass catcher is expecting to have an expanded role within the offense after the team traded Josh Gordon to the New England Patriots Monday.

“It’s the National Football League, so I’ve got to step up,” Callaway said Tuesday.

Callaway showed plenty of speed on the field during the preseason, but went without a pass thrown in his direction during the 21-21 tie against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2018 regular-season opener at FirstEnergy Stadium.

However, with the Browns deactivating Gordon the day before the game because of a hamstring injury, Callaway made the most of his opportunities, hauling in three passes for a team-best 81 yards and one touchdown in Sunday’s 21-18 loss to the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“Another game, take it step-by-step and day-by-day,” Callaway said. “I’m ready.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway secures a catch during Wednesday's practice for this weekend's regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.

Needing a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to tie the game against the Saints, the Browns faced a fourth-and-five from their opponent’s 47-yard line and quarterback Tyrod Taylor trusted both his arm strength and Callaway’s speed.

Taylor aired out a throw over the middle of the field and found Callaway behind the coverage of a New Orleans defensive back in stride in the middle of the end zone for the tying touchdown.

“You want to see someone other than the people that you know that is going to start to elevate himself and start making plays for you,” Browns coach Hue Jackson said. “He was able to do that. That was a huge play. I am sure that you guys went back and watched it. For him to go and track that ball down like he did, wow. He can run.

“I did (watch the replay) about five times because each time, it was like he was getting faster at the end. The burst to go get the ball was phenomenal. It was good. Obviously, it was a heck of a play. Hell of a throw and a heck of a catch.”

Credit: Matt Florjancic, WKYC Digital Sports
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway squares up to catch a pass during Monday's practice at team headquarters in Berea.

With Gordon no longer in the organization, Callaway is confident he “can do a lot” to help the Browns’ offense move down the field, and the coaching staff believes the first-year pass catcher is on pace to be a difference-maker as the regular season continues, starting with Thursday’s game against the New York Jets.

“He is making strides,” Jackson said. “Obviously, the catch to tie the game last week is a confidence booster for any young player. I think that he was always coming on.

“We were not trying got push him to fast, not give him too much too fast. Now, he has to take it all. It is time. I think that he will do well. He has always competed hard, and he always works at it. It is another step for him. This Thursday night will be good for him.”

12:00 p.m.-BROWNS HOLD PRACTICE AHEAD OF THURSDAY'S GAME

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Browns continue their preparations for Thursday game vs. the New York Jets at their Berea training facility Tuesday.

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