BEREA, Ohio — 2:25 p.m.-Freddie Kitchens: Odell Beckham Jr.’s talents are close to unmatched
New Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens knows the kind of talent the front office added to the locker room when they acquired wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. from the New York Giants on the first day of the new league year, March 13.
And Kitchens considers Beckham Jr. to be in an elite class of players.
“His skill set, I wouldn’t say is unmatched, but it’s close,” Kitchens said during a press conference to kick off the start of the offseason program. “Players strive to be on a good team.”
Over 59 regular-season games, including 56 starts, in five years with the New York Giants, Beckham Jr. turned 622 targets into 390 receptions for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns. Beckham Jr. averaged 92.8 yards per game, including a league-best 108.8 during the 2014 season.
A three-time Pro Bowler, Beckham Jr. has put four 1,000-yard and three double-digit touchdown seasons on his resume since being selected with a first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Louisiana State University.
Last season, Beckham Jr. turned in a 77-catch, 1,052-yard, six-touchdown effort for the Giants.
“Enthusiasm, passion,” Kitchens said of what Beckham Jr. adds to the locker room. “He loves to play the game. He loves being around his teammates.”
Quarterback Baker Mayfield is one of those teammates.
Mayfield broke the NFL rookie record with his 27th touchdown throw of the 2018 season with 3:24 remaining in the fourth quarter of a 26-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC North Division clash at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on December 30.
After taking over the first-team offense in the second quarter of a Week 3 win over the New York Jets, Mayfield completed 310 of his 486 attempts (63.8 percent) for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.
Under the direction of new Browns coach Freddie Kitchens, who was the interim offensive coordinator for the second half of the 2018 season, Mayfield completed 180 of his 263 attempts (68.4 percent) for 2,254 yards and 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions.
Although the Browns look talented on paper, Kitchens knows that it will have to come together throughout the offseason program and on into training camp before the team reaches where it wants to go.
“Right now, we’re just a group of players,” Kitchens said. “Our roster looks great, but whoop dee hell. We’ve got to work at it.”
2:00 p.m.-Freddie Kitchens: This is ultimate team game, will take more than individuals for Cleveland Browns to win
The Cleveland Browns added plenty of talent to the roster over the last two offseasons, particularly with this year’s acquisition of Pro Bowl wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. last month, but coach Freddie Kitchens is focused on what needs to be done over the last 12 weeks, and then, in training camp.
The Browns started their offseason program Monday morning, and Kitchens is ready to get underway the preparations for the 2019 season, his first as an NFL head coach.
“Right now, we’re just a group of players,” Kitchens said during a press conference Monday. “Our roster looks great, but whoop-dee hell. We’ve got work to do.”
In addition to reaction from the Beckham Jr. trade, Kitchens talked about the importance of everybody holding each other accountable, not starting in the regular season, but every day during the offseason program, training camp and the season itself.
“This is OUR team,” Kitchens said. “I’m kind of the front man. If those guys in the locker room don’t hold each other accountable, we’re not going to have anything. It’s what our team is, what our offense is, what our defense is.
“The letter ‘I’ is a dangerous proposition. It’s about ‘We,’ ‘Us,’ ‘Our.’”
Last week, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh called the Browns the most talented team in the AFC North Division, and while Kitchens agreed that the level of productivity in the locker room is high, nobody outside of the organization is setting an expectation for the season.
“It’s about how we approach everything as a business on a day-to-day basis,” Kitchens said. “We’re not worried about outside expectations.
“Nobody else matters except for the people in the room. They’re the only ones that can affect winning and losing, and it’s about winning and losing.”
1:30 p.m.-Browns set to introduce Beckham Jr.
The Cleveland Browns are set to introduce newly-acquired wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the media at team headquarters in Berea this afternoon.
The preparations for the 2019 season began in earnest Monday for the Browns.
On Monday morning, the Browns reported for the start of the offseason program, led by quarterback Baker Mayfield and Beckham Jr., who was acquired in a deal with the New York Giants on the first day of the new league year, March 13.
Because the Browns have a new head coach, they get an extra two weeks of work during the offseason program. The Browns are one of eight teams who began their work for the 2019 season on Monday.
The first two weeks of the program acts as an acclimation period, as players and coaches will have meetings and begin to lay the groundwork for the year. Then, the Browns will start the on-field portion of the offseason program on April 15, when other teams are just reporting to their respective training facilities.
The Browns tweeted out several pictures of players arriving, most notably Beckham Jr., Mayfield and Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett.
Unlike past years, Browns fans have plenty of reason to be optimistic heading into the 2019 season.
At 2-5-1 following a 33-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 28 and in the middle of an unprecedented midseason coaching staff upheaval following the dismissals of Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the 2018 Browns looked to be anything but a team capable of the greatest year-to-year turnaround in franchise history.
But a 5-3 record over the second half of the season and a three-game winning streak in December secured the Browns’ greatest year-to-year turnaround in team history, as they finished plus-7.5 in victories over 2017’s winless campaign.
Also, there is the matter of having the starting quarterback figured out after 20 years of searching for the next “franchise” signal-caller.
No rookie in the near 100-year history of the NFL has thrown more touchdowns passes than Mayfield.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Mayfield broke the rookie record with his 27th touchdown throw of the season with 3:24 remaining in the fourth quarter of a 26-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC North Division clash at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on December 30.
After taking over the first-team offense in the second quarter of a Week 3 win over the New York Jets, Mayfield completed 310 of his 486 attempts (63.8 percent) for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns against 14 interceptions.
Under the direction of Kitchens, Cleveland’s interim offensive coordinator for the second half of the 2018 season, Mayfield completed 180 of his 263 attempts (68.4 percent) for 2,254 yards and 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions.
