Odell Beckham Jr. is hopeful he and Jarvis Landry can be this year’s Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs.
“With the new coach coming in, just seeing what he did with the Minnesota Vikings for a long time with Thielen and Diggs, these are people who I’ve watched closely on their film,” Beckham told Complex Sports of new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. “Just seeing the things that he did and meeting him and seeing where his mind’s at for Jarvis and myself of how this will all work out. I have a good feeling about it, you know?”
Despite lofty preseason expectations, the Browns ended last season with a disappointing 6-10 record, becoming the only team this past decade to not have a winning season. First-year head coach Freddie Kitchens was relieved of his duties just hours after the season ended in a 33-23 loss to the 2-14 Bengals. The Browns further cleaned house by firing general manager John Dorsey.
On Jan. 12, the Browns hired Stefanski, formerly the Vikings offensive coordinator, to fill their head-coaching vacancy shortly after the Vikings were eliminated in the NFL divisional round against the 49ers.
“It’s going on year seven for me now, but this business teaches you that anybody’s replaceable and there’s always going to be new coaches coming in and new staff, unless you’re in one of those places where it just happens to not be like that. But where I’ve been at, unfortunately I’ve been on some teams, not-so-good teams, so we’ve kind of reestablished it,” Beckham said.
Beckham and Landry, both 27, were among the Browns players to openly express discontent last season.
“Throughout this year, Odell Beckham has actually told other players and coaches before games, during games, ‘Hey, come get me. Come get me out of here,'” Michael Silver reported Landry also yelled “come get me” to Browns opponents.
The former Giants receiver says his frustrations were fueled in part by injury.
“I think myself as well had a slice of humble pie this year, because I was hurt all year, I couldn’t really say I was hurt,” Beckham said. “I didn’t want to make it seem like I’m having an excuse, but I really couldn’t do what I wanted. I just couldn’t move the way that I wanted to, so I think that’s why I’m more motivated now than ever.”