BEREA, Ohio — It’s only four little words, but the Browns are talkin’ some trash as they head into Sunday’s big AFC North showdown with the Ravens.
Two of them flew out of the mouth of Browns receiver Jerry Jeudy on Wednesday when he was asked what challenges the Ravens secondary presents the Browns receivers.
“No challenges,” he said, and turned his head for the next question.
The other two spilled out of the mouth of Browns safety Grant Delpit, who was asked Thursday by cleveland.com how hard Derrick Henry (6-3, 252) is to bring down.
“Not hard,” Delpit said.
Henry was asked about Delpit’s remarks, which went viral on social media Thursday.
“Yeah, I saw that,” Henry said. “His coach had a quote. He had a quote. We’ll see on Sunday.”
Henry, who coughed up the ball with 3:06 left to spark the Bills’ comeback on Sunday night, will let his legs do the talking. Last season, he rushed for 138 yards on 20 carries (6.9-yard average) in the season-ending 35-10 victory over the Browns, with two TDs and a long blast of 43 yards.
In the first meeting in Cleveland, he rushed for 73 yards on 11 carries (6.6-yard average) with one TD and a long gain of 39. In that game, Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah also suffered a season-ending and career-threatening neck injury in a collision with Henry that landed him in the hospital overnight for observation. Owusu-Koramoah is out for at least all of this season with the injury.
As for Jeudy’s “no challenges” remark, maybe he’s onto something.
The Ravens, who finished 31st in the NFL against the pass last season, picked up where they left off last year by allowing the Bills to throw for 389 yards on them in the Ravens’ 41-40 loss on Sunday Night Football.
To make matters worse, Baltimore held a 40-25 lead with less than five minutes left in the game, and let NFL MVP Josh Allen pass his way to victory, with completions of 32 and 35 on the gamewinning field goal drive.
Jeudy’s two little words packed a wallop, and undoubtedly made their way into the Ravens locker room. Will they light a fire under the Ravens? Or help Jeudy get his own gameface on. Jeudy’s coming off a game in which he dropped a short fourth-quarter pass over the middle on fourth and 5 that could’ve led to the gamewinning score with the Browns trailing by the final margin, 17-16.
In the third quarter, Jeudy dove for a low ball that went off hands and into those of Bengals safety Jordan Battle. He finished by catching 5 of 8 targets for 66 yards, but would love to have the drops back.
“There’s some things that didn’t go our way during the week,” he said. “That’s going to happen every week. It’s part of the game. It’s football. You can’t really dwell too much on it. The only thing you can do is just work towards your goals and fix the mistakes that did happen during last game and then move on. You can’t have that game back. The good thing is we got next game Sunday and prepare for that.”
The four words heard ‘round social media are just one of the storylines heading into this clash of two 0-1 teams needing a win. Jeudy and Browns cornerback Denzel Ward both said on Wednesday it’s “disrespectful” the Browns are 11.5-point underdogs for the game.
Joe Flacco is heading back to Baltimore for the first time to face the team that cast him aside for Lamar Jackson in 2018, and the Ravens are celebrating 30 years since Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore in a huge way on Sunday — with the Browns in the house.
“Honestly, I feel like it gives us a little bit more juice,” special teams coordinator and former Browns special teams ace Bubba Ventrone said. “As a player, for me, I would be more excited to take on that challenge.”
Four little words that could loom large in this heated AFC North rivalry, one in which the Browns have won four of the last seven games.
Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com's Browns reporters.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.