CLEVELAND — Nothing to see here.
For the second consecutive day, Cleveland Browns wide receivers Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. were limited in practice at team headquarters Thursday, but first-year head coach Freddie Kitchens is not concerned about their availability for Sunday’s game at the Denver Broncos.
“They got the reps that they needed to get,” Kitchens said.
“They looked good today. Even though it is a [Thursday], sometimes it takes your body a little bit of time to recover and different people react differently. We try to take care of our guys from the standpoint of making sure they are healthy when they go out, but there are certain reps that they need to get and they have done a good job of that.”
Landry (shoulder) and Beckham Jr. (groin) may have been limited with their respective injuries, but both addressed the media following Thursday’s practice.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Landry said. “It is just something that I initially re-hurt. Something I had hurt earlier in the year, and I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Much like Landry, Beckham was eager to do what he could on the practice field in an effort to relief some frustration that has been building with three straight losses, which dropped the Browns (2-5) from first place to third in the AFC North Division.
“It is always there,” Beckham Jr. said of the frustration.
“You want to win. You want to be part of the solution and you never want to be the problem. I think we are all just trying to find the solution right now. We are just trying to find ways to put together games, less mistakes, less penalties. Find a way to put together better games and come out with the win.”
Now in their first year playing on the same team since their college days at Louisiana State University, Landry and Beckham Jr. have had to get used to sharing the load on offense.
Beckham Jr. leads the Browns with 34 receptions, which he has turned into 488 yards and one touchdown, an 89-yard score against the New York Jets in a Week 2 Cleveland win. Landry has converted his 30 catches into 504 yards, and while his average yards per catch is up significantly from 2018, to 16.8, he is yet to catch a touchdown pass this year.
“I think Odell and Jarvis are doing a good job of deciphering coverage and getting to windows when it is applicable,” Kitchens said. “We just have to continue to try and get better timing, try to get better spacing, all of those sort of things that affect your progress on an every-day basis and an every-game basis.”
Although Beckham Jr. and Landry have been limited in their productivity this season, Kitchens believes for them to have breakout performances, so it comes down to stepping up at a critical time.
“Sometimes, you just have to go make a play,” Kitchens said. “There is always a moment where you look back and say the game was decided right then. If you are playing every play, you end up on the good side of it more often than not.
“That is what I mean by ‘just go win the game.’ You are really trying to win every play. You are not going to win every play, but if you consistently try to play the best that you can and do your job on that play, then ultimately, you will be in position to win the game.”