Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer did everything he could to make Josh Gordon the featured weapon in the team's offense, targeting the receiver 16 times on Sunday while no other player was targeted more than five times. It's possible Hoyer even targeted Gordon a bit too much.
Josh Gordon returns to the Browns humbled and hungry
Josh Gordon returned to the Browns in shape and ready to “be better than that old Josh Gordon.”
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Hoyer was intercepted twice by the Atlanta Falcons in the final five minutes on Sunday, as the Browns gave up the lead with just 44 seconds remaining. Both passes were intended for Gordon, and the receiver begged Hoyer not to go away from him on the final drive.
The quarterback listened and found Gordon on a 24-yard reception that set up a game-winning field goal for the Browns. Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
“I just told him, ‘Don’t give up on me. Don’t quit on me,”’ said Gordon, who played for the first time since his 10-game suspension for testing positive for marijuana.
Hoyer didn’t quit on Gordon and neither did the Browns, despite finding plenty of success in his absence. For Gordon, though, the moment was bigger than his individual performance, and he said that the team’s winning ways are what he lives for.
“It means the world to me to be back, but not just to be back, but to be with this team,” he said. “More than anything this is my third year here, I’ve been through plenty of different coaches, owners and GMs and offenses. To finally see us get it going in the right direction means everything to me. That’s what I live for and that’s what I work for.”
Without Gordon's contributions, the Browns jumped out to a 6-4 start to the season and with the win on Sunday, the team is a less than a game behind the Cincinnati Bengals for first in the AFC North and even with the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers for a wild card spot.
With so much on the line for the Browns, Gordon impressed coaches when he was eligible to return to practice. Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine told reporters that it was obvious Gordon stayed in “excellent” shape during his suspension and was ready to perform at a high level upon his return. Gordon said it was the product of plenty of hard work.
“I told Coach Pett about it,” said Gordon. “I’ve been working out for 10 weeks. He was asking me, ‘Do you think you’re football ready, in football shape?’ I told him I’d been working out nonstop every day, day in and day out. I think that just goes to show I wasn’t just sitting around on my ass doing nothing.”
All things considered, it was a relatively cavalier performance from the third-year receiver who averaged 117.6 receiving yards per game during his first-team All-Pro season in 2013. He finished with eight receptions for 120 yards and no touchdowns.
Cleveland's hunt for a playoff spot continues in Week 13 against the Buffalo Bills, who boast the NFL's sixth-best pass defense. After that, it's four consecutive teams that rank in the bottom half of the league in pass yards allowed per game.
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