With two exciting new receivers in Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion, the Cleveland Browns have the most exciting WR room they’ve had in a long time. The last time fans felt this good about the talent at wide receiver was when Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham were the top two receivers, and while these rookies have a long way to go to fill those shoes, they’re off to a great start.
This coaching staff is throwing starters straight into the fire and showing great confidence in their young receivers, as evidenced by their rushing numbers and target shares. As exciting as the two of them are, there’s another young receiver on this roster who puts some meat on the bone and recently drew the ire of Landry himself.
Second-year receiver Isaiah Bond played a bigger role in Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets after Concepcion was knocked out with a concussion on a dirty hit by Minkah Fitzpatrick. Bond has taken on a bigger role and failed to deliver, dropping many important passes, and Landry recently chimed in on an episode of the 4th and South podcast.
“Isaiah Bond, my dog, if you can’t handle this shit without gloves, you gotta wear some gloves, my family. I don’t care if you wear rain gloves, wear ‘Stickum’ gloves. He was another key to why we didn’t win. I’m telling the truth. If I go down without gloves, I’d better have gloves on or something, he ain’t got nothing on you, my man, we didn’t win because down it’s contagious,” he said.
Bond had just two catches for 12 yards in the first four games and had three catches for a team-high 74 yards against the Jets. He should have had more, but he dropped a massive wideout pass on 2nd-and-19 with about two minutes left in the first quarter that could have easily turned the first over and put the Browns down five points as close as a field goal.
He also missed a wide-open touchdown in the second quarter and went out of bounds on a deep reception despite an opportunity to continue down the sideline and potentially take it to the house. He made some high-profile mistakes against New York, and many criticized him for not wearing the gloves for both of those drops.
You never want to blame a player for a loss, but it was a tough look for Bond. On a day when the Browns scored just 12 points and lost one of their biggest playmakers, Bond had to step up, and he couldn’t. Hopefully he can bounce back and use this as a learning opportunity.
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