CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Despite making Browns history, 2019 was not the year Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry dreamed of when they pondered playing on the same NFL team together when they were teammates at LSU.
Both receivers played through painful injuries that required surgery.
The hyped Browns resurrection before the season spurred on by the trade of Beckham to Cleveland from the New York Giants went belly up by December and resulted in another round of sweeping organizational change.
For both players, the 2020 season can’t start fast enough.
“We both want to be great,” Beckham said Thursday during a Zoom video conference with reporters.
Beckham had a core muscle injury repaired in January and Landry had hip surgery in February.
“You have to play through injuries and you have to play through things,” Landry said. “I embraced that last season. I am looking forward to having a season where I can actually be out there practicing more and not worried about an injury and be able to take the field on Sunday with a clear head and just going out there and make plays.”
Despite the injuries, Beckham and Landry became the first receiver combo in franchise history to total 1,000 yards in the same season.
“I am looking forward to having a season where I can actually be out there practicing more and not worried about an injury and be able to take the field on Sunday with a clear head and just going out there and make plays,” Landry said.
Landry made his fifth Pro Bowl in six years after leading the team with 83 catches, 1,174 yards and six touchdowns.
Beckham was right behind him with 74 catches for 1,035 yards and four touchdowns.
“I am pretty sure it is just what we dreamed of and what we have always talked about and joked about back when we were 17 years old,” Beckham said. “‘We are going to go to the same college. We are going to be on the same NFL team.’ It is crazy how it has happened and this is where we are.
“I feel like we all wish we had more time in a sense, just to have more time to get ready, have more time to heal and have more time to prepare, but this is where we are so we just keep rolling. I think Jarvis looks great. He has always been a phenomenal player. I do not think we are going to see anything less than phenomenal in my opinion.”
Their recoveries have gone as planned, although the team was cautious with both player’s workloads during camp. While Beckham didn’t miss a practice, he was held back from team drills on some days while Landry was given days off entirely.
“It’s one of those things the further out that I get from surgery, the better I’ll continue to feel,” Landry said.
Playing injured is never easy. Maintaining the same standards that they hold themselves to while doing so is impossible.
With surgery and rehab behind him, Beckham is hopeful his health will allow him to return to the player he expects himself to be.
“For one, I can run. I can lift my leg up on the table,” Beckham said. “It is crazy for me to look back and think about kind of just how I made it through the season last year because there were little motions that I could not even do. I could not pull my leg up on the table. I could not do simple basic motions, much less go against the best of the best week in and week out.”
Although healed, Landry isn’t back to 100%, yet.
“I am still getting better,” Landry said. “I am still improving, taking each and every day to work on the things that I need to work on to make sure that I am healthy out there and make sure that I can go out there and compete and help this team win games.”
Beckham is also more comfortable in Cleveland this year too.
“I’m just in a better place in life,” Beckham said.
With Beckham and Landry paired with running backs Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb as well as tight ends Austin Hooper and David Njoku, expectations are high for the offense.
“Just score points,” Beckham said.
