BEREA, Ohio — Can Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. run one, just one route without getting held by a defensive back?
That is the exact question first-year Browns coach Freddie Kitchens wants to answer, but through the first four weeks of the 2019 regular season, the inquiry gets a resounding “No,” despite video evidence to the contrary.
“Here’s what I think is difficult: for Odell to be able to run a route without getting grabbed,” Kitchens said prior to Thursday’s practice at team headquarters in Berea. “I think that’s what frustrates him, and we’re working on him just staying the course. He does a good job of that, of staying the course.
“Odell’s a physical guy, too. I don’t have any…I’m not scared of a cornerback being physical with Odell. That’s not what I’m scared of. I don’t want people grabbing him down the field, though.”
Some of the frustration Beckham Jr. may have been feeling appeared to boil over in the second half of Sunday’s 40-25 Browns win over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
On first-and-20 from the Baltimore 48-yard line with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, quarterback Baker Mayfield completed a 19-yard pass to running back Dontrell Hilliard, but as the ball carrier headed up the field, a melee ensued between several Browns and Ravens players.
The most egregious part of the incident occurred when Beckham Jr. appeared throw a punch and cornerback Marlon Humphrey wrestled him down to the field, but the Ravens defender was far from finished.
With Beckham Jr. flat against the ground, Humphrey appeared to choke him for several seconds. It was only after Jarvis Landry and center JC Tretter pulled Humphrey off of Beckham Jr. that the incident simmered down, but not before Mayfield confronted a couple Ravens players and more unnecessary roughness penalties were called.
Beckham Jr. finished the win against the Ravens with just two catches for 20 yards despite being targeted with seven Mayfield passes.
“I don’t know insinuations and all that,” Kitchens said. “I know Odell Beckham is a good player. We want him to get the ball. I didn’t sense the frustration. I sensed him looking at the scoreboard and realizing that we needed to keep going.
“You never know, when you’re playing those positions, when you’re going to get the ball, so I don’t know. I don’t think he got frustrated from that. I think Odell Beckham likes to win football games. I did not sense that he was frustrated from that.”
Although Beckham Jr. did not have gaudy individual numbers, some of his teammates sure did against the Ravens.
Running back Nick Chubb rushed for 165 yards and three touchdowns, including an 88-yard score in the fourth quarter that helped seal the victory.
Landry, Beckham Jr.’s long-time friend, broke out of his season-long slump with eight catches for a single-game career high 167 yards in three quarters of action, while tight end Ricky Seals-Jones had three receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown, a nine-yard score early in the first quarter.
Kitchens saw that as a by-product of Beckham Jr.’s presence on the field.
“You like to throw versus one-on-one coverage,” Kitchens said. “We’ve got a guy that can win versus one-on-one coverage, if he’s not getting grabbed. Of course, that has a lot to do with it. We look for one-on-one matchups. That’s what we like to get, and then, if people play zone, you try to find windows.”