DENVER — All Browns All receiver Jerry Jeudy could do when all was said and done was sit with his head in his hands.
Everything seemed to be gearing up for Jeudy’s return to Denver against his former team, the Broncos, to be a resounding success. Everything except the final score.
Denver 41, Cleveland 32.
It was all Jeudy could think about after returning to face the team that traded him to the Browns in March after four years of service. That’s the thing he recognized that he would give back every receiving yard he had in order to get the win instead.
“Hell yeah,” Jeudy said after throwing for a career-high 235 yards against the Broncos. “Yeah, I would. I would. I need that W. I mean, it was just one step closer to the playoffs. We needed it.”
It was a night where Jeudy made no secret that he was very special to him entering the game. It was clear from the boos that Broncos fans flocked to him on each of his nine catches, they also knew how special it was.
However, Jeudy continued to make plays. There was a 70-yard touchdown run – with the added effect of turning around and falling backwards into the end zone after reaching the goal line – followed by the two-point conversion that helped the Browns pull away. close to 28-25 with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter.
“Coach saw something upstairs,” Jeudy said of the touchdown, on which he completely burned the Broncos secondary on a post pattern. “They called, we kind of caught up, I’m not going to say we made that play right away, but we made some adjustments and the coaching staff saw something, we executed.”
The extra flourish at the end of the touchdown was about as close as Jeudy came to allowing the emotions to truly boil over. He was not involved in any postgame skirmishes with his former teammates and even spent several moments talking to Broncos coach Sean Payton after the game ended.
Instead, it was exactly what Jeudy said it would be earlier in the week. It was a business trip for him and, individually, he more than handled his own.
“It was very emotional,” Jeudy said. “But like I said before, you always want to beat the team you were playing for, but we didn’t. Like I said, we have to find a way to finish, find a way to win .”
By the end of the third quarter, Jeudy had already recorded 167 receiving yards, surpassing his previous career best – 154 yards in the last game he played as a Broncos uniform last January in Denver.
Jeudy’s first catch of the fourth quarter, a 35-yard catch with 12:31 left, pushed him past the 200-yard mark. His final catch, a 16-yarder with 1:04 left, kept the Browns’ hopes alive.
“He’s phenomenal, man,” quarterback Jameis Winston said. “We… knew at the beginning of the week what time it was. He was hungry. He was preparing. He was ready to come back here and show up and show himself, and he did. It’s important .
“It’s a shame we didn’t get this win for him, but I’m happy he had a career day. I’m happy he did an incredible job. But he’s an incredible receiver .”
Jeudy’s big game only continued a trend for him since Winston took over as starting quarterback in Week 8. He had 24 catches on 36 targets for 379 yards and a touchdown over the four previous matches.
Now, thanks to the big game against his former team, Jeudy is at 880 yards and three touchdowns on 54 receptions.
Much of this Thursday would have traded for a victory on Monday night.
“It’s going to be bittersweet for him, but at the end of the day, for his personal success, I think he’s done an incredible job,” Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore said. “To have his career at the top against his old team, for someone to abandon him and then look at what he does now when he’s used well.
“He went in the first round for a reason. I’ve watched him since I was little. I played with him since I was little. He’s nice. You just have to use your players, right? That means obviously to include everyone to win.
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Learn more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article was originally published in the Akron Beacon Journal: Browns’ loss to Broncos diminishes Jerry Jeudy’s big day against old team
