The Cleveland Browns have had a rough season with injuries, COVID-19, play-calling and, most annoyingly, drama. While the drama around Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham Jr. ended weeks ago, the impact of it has lingered. The team went from having a receiving group with upside and depth to one led by a sixth-round pick, a quality slot receiver and not much else.
In Week 15, even the quality slot receiver, Jarvis Landry, was out leaving Donovan Peoples-Jones as the team’s primary receiver option with Rashard Higgins being dusted off to play as well.
The game started off a struggle for Peoples-Jones. He had two balls knocked out of his hands from good plays by the opposing cornerback. Both balls a high-quality top receiver would be likely to catch.
While Peoples-Jones turned it around later in the game, fans were still highly critical of his performance. So much so that rookie corner Greg Newsome II, missing his second game due to concussion, accused fake fans of turning on him:
fake fans* turned on him. https://t.co/a5p5ow8Hvy
— Greg Newsome II (@gnewsii) December 21, 2021
As noted, the second-year receiver out of Michigan is still young. His draft stock wasn’t high for a variety of reasons including inconsistency. For his career, Peoples-Jones has 41 receptions for 782 yards and five touchdowns. For a sixth-round pick, those are pretty good numbers. For a team’s top receiving threat, those are paltry.
For the final three games of the season, the Browns don’t have other options so Peoples-Jones will still get targeted. He’ll likely have some struggles as he continues to develop, will “fake fans” turn on him some more? Hopefully Newsome won’t be able to notice and will, instead, be cleared from concussion protocol and be able to return to the field.