Hue Jackson to Terrelle Pryor: Just stop it

Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson has had enough of Terrelle Pryor telling everyone else how to do their job and is going to put an end to it.

In many ways, Sunday was just like any other day for the Cleveland Browns.

There was the requisite loss – the team’s 31st in the last 34 games – poor quarterback and defensive breakdowns leading to big plays and easy touchdowns for the opposition.

And wide receiver Terrelle Pryor once again found himself in the middle of things for all the wrong reasons.

At one point in the third quarter Pryor got into a shouting match with quarterback Robert Griffin III because Griffin called a timeout rather than run a play with the play clock winding down. Television cameras caught the two yelling and pointing at each other on the field.

“We will get these antics … slowed down.” – Hue Jackson on Terrelle Pryor

Following the game, Pryor was on the receiving end of a tirade from Cincinnati cornerback Adam Jones, who called Pryor “garbage” (among other things) and used a garbage can as a prop after the Bengals held Pryor to just one catch for three yards on Sunday.

It has become a weekly occurrence with Pryor, who is either being criticized by opposing players, throwing the offensive line under the bus to reporters or repeatedly stomping along the sideline and chewing on the ear of head coach Hue Jackson.

But Sunday looks to have been the final straw.

“We stop it. We just stop it .., we are going to stop all of that,” Jackson said on Monday. “This is not the type of football team we want to be. I think Terrelle is trying to come from a good place, but he has to direct that energy in a different way, and I think he will. Some people file it under wanting to win so bad, but winning so bad can’t supersede the team and how we are going to do things. That is what we will do.

“We just want to play football, be the best football players we can be and let’s get away from all of that. Sometimes, I think some of our players think it is their prerogative – and not just our players, other [team’s] players – to start to make comments, but I think we need to settle whatever differences we have on the football field and leave it at that and be pros about what we do and compete against each other and move forward.”

More from Dawg Pound Daily

• How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
• Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
• 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
• Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
• 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target

While Pryor’s passion should be applauded, it is really not his place to be telling everyone else how to do their job. (Especially since his seems to have an offside or false start penalty on a weekly basis.)

As bad a quarterback as Griffin is, Pryor is the last person who should be criticizing him. And players like Joe Thomas and John Greco certainly don’t need a lecture from Pryor on the nuances of offensive line play in the NFL.

It may also be time to place some perspective on Pryor’s on-field performance this season.

While he leads the Browns in receptions (63), receiving yards (858) and touchdowns (4), and remains on pace to (just barely) break 1,000 receiving yards this year, those same numbers lose some of their luster when compared to the league as a whole. Pryor is currently tied for 26th in receptions, tied for 21st in yards, tied for 41st in touchdown receptions, and despite being labeled as a “deep-ball threat” has just 10 catches of more than 20 yards, which leaves him tied for 28th in league.

And for someone with such a size advantage, Pryor has just 143 yards after the catch, which puts him in a tie at No. 123 among all players in the NFL in that category.

Those are still very good numbers considering what the Browns offense has gone through this year, but let’s not make him out to be more than he is.

In the meantime, Pryor needs to focus on his role and help the team get through the final three games of what has been a trying season for everyone involved.

Next: Where do the Browns go from here?

“There is a type of team we want to be and we are going to be,” Jackson said of Pryor’s outbursts. “We will get these things, these antics or however you guys want to look at them slowed down because we want to do this thing right. I don’t want anybody to think that he is the root of a problem or something like that. I just think we have to redirect and channel some of his energy.”