FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Browns had 21 receptions as a team in their 32-13 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Only two of those 21 receptions came via their wide receivers— just the latest stat that shows how dire Cleveland’s passing game has become.
“We need to do a better job,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “I need to do a better job, obviously. Jerry (Jeudy) needs to get the football, but we have to do a better job.”
Jeudy, the Browns’ No. 1 receiver who had his first 1,000-yard and Pro Bowl season in 2024, continued his frustrating 2025 campaign.
He had no catches on two targets, both of which came early in the fourth quarter.
The first was on a third-and-6 rollout by quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who threw a poorly-placed high ball to Jeudy in the end zone.
The second target was on fourth-and-11 on the same drive following a delay of game penalty, a contested look against Christian Gonzalez that Jeudy was unable to corral as Gonzalez had an inside angle.
This was the first game in which Jeudy didn’t have a reception since Week 10 in the 2022 season when he was still with the Denver Broncos, the team that selected him in the first round in 2020. In that game, he suffered an ankle injury on the first snap.
The last game he went without a reception that wasn’t due to an injury was his second year in the league, a Week 15 2021 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. He had four targets on 52 offensive snaps in that game.
On Sunday, Jeudy appeared frustrated heading to the bench after that fourth-quarter sequence. In the locker room after the game, he said “I have to go” when reporters approached him for an interview.
So why weren’t the Browns able to get him the ball?
“A variety of reasons, but it doesn’t matter,” Stefanski continued. “We’ve got to get him the ball.”
Gabriel admitted he needed to distribute the ball better after the game.
“Yeah, just need to be able to spread it out more,” he said. “I think when you’re efficient and you’re playing at a high level, everyone is touching it.”
1/66
Cleveland Browns vs. New England Patriots, October 26, 2025
The only receiver to catch the football against the Patriots was Jamari Thrash (two of three for 31 yards).
Along with Jeudy going 0-of-2, rookie undrafted receiver Isaiah Bond went 0-of-4 on his targets.
Bond and Gabriel continued to struggle downfield for most of the game.
Bond got pushed out of bounds off the left sideline on a third-and-5 look in the second quarter. The following drive, a ball hit him in the chest and came out of his arms on third-and-4. In the third quarter, Bond was also the intended target on Gabriel’s interception that went straight to Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins.
“I think today was just an off day,” Bond said. “We gotta come back and be stronger than that.
“Honestly, just missed targets. Kind of like I said earlier, you know, you’re gonna have missed targets. But like I said, we’re going to a bye week. We’ll have to build that connection.”
This season, Jeudy has 257 yards and no touchdowns on 22 catches. Bond has 123 yards and no touchdowns on 11 catches. Rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. continues to be the team’s leading receiver (352 yards, 38 catches, two touchdowns).
So what’s the fix?
Unfortunately, it may not be easy enough to solve over Cleveland’s Week 9 bye. So much comes down to how this receiver room is built, and the Browns want to rely on Fannin, veteran tight end David Njoku, and running back Quinshon Judkins in the pass game as well.
And while those players have been effective, the Browns’ problems get increasingly exploitable with little offensive variety.
But it’s undeniable that heading into the bye, the Browns aren’t even close to being a downfield threat as a team. Until that changes, more offensive woes loom. While Judkins has made a strong case for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, more teams are realizing how easy it is to stymie the Browns’ ground game by stacking the box, and devoting less defensive pressure downfield. The Patriots often had six defenders up at the line of scrimmage.
The result of that Sunday was Judkins rushing for only 19 yards on nine carries.
The Browns now have two weeks to diagnose and address the root of their issues.
If those answers do not emerge quickly, the season’s second half could look uncomfortably similar to Sunday: a passing game grounded, a frustrated receiving corps, and an offense searching for a spark that never arrives.
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.