Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy turned in a Pro Bowl performance last season with 90 receptions for 1,229 yards and four touchdowns. Eight games into the 2025 campaign, the former Alabama All-American had only 22 receptions for 257 yards without a touchdown.
But in the Browns’ most recent outing, Jeudy reached season highs with six receptions for 78 yards and scored his first touchdown of 2025 in a 27-20 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday.
“It has been a long time coming,” Jeudy said. “Hopefully, we just keep the momentum going.”
The signs of life for Jeudy’s season didn’t appear by accident.
Jeudy did not have a reception and was targeted twice in Cleveland’s 32-13 loss to the New England Patriots on Oct. 26. After the Browns returned from their bye week, Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski announced he had relinquished the play-calling duty to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who held that position at Alabama in 2023.
Rees said getting “Jerry going” was among his areas of focus for his first game as an NFL play-caller.
“Jerry does a lot of things well,” Rees said, “and I’ll just say we’re trying to put him in position to do those things in the right spots in the right moments, and we talked last week when you get your good players going early, usually it helps them throughout the game. So Jerry’s a very talented guy who’s worked extremely hard, and he put himself in that position to have success.”
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Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel tried to connect with Jeudy 10 times in the first half against the Jets.
Jeudy said the early involvement “helped me get going.”
“Tommy just put me in a great position to be able to make those plays,” Jeudy said. “I think that’s what it is. I was just in the right position. …
“Tommy did a good job of trying to get me the ball and get me involved in the game plan, and I think Dillon did a good job in going through his reads and making the right plays and throwing to me when I was open.”
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Jeudy’s first touchdown came on a 22-yard connection with Gabriel as Cleveland tied the Jets at 14-14 with 10:34 left in the first half.
“If you look at the beginning of the game, I caught a cross earlier in the game and the DB was trailing,” Jeudy said of his touchdown. “So Tommy did a great job of recognizing that during the game, seeing that he was trying to undercut me and play the crosser, so he called it at a great time.”
At 2-7, the Browns play the 4-5 Baltimore Ravens at 3:25 p.m. CST Sunday at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland in an AFC North game.
“Now that he definitely got a feeling his first game this season,” Jeudy said of Rees, “I’m pretty sure he’s going to do a great job next week in calling the plays also.”
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