Jarvis Landry believes Odell Beckham Jr. doesn't want to leave Browns. (Cleveland19.com)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Nobody’s closer to Odell Beckham Jr. than soul mate Jarvis Landry. So if Beckham is going to confide in anyone regarding his true desires to stay or go, it’s going to be Landry, right?
“Of course. If he don’t, I’m gonna beat his ass,” Landry said with a mic drop, walk-off from his weekly media visit.
For the record, Landry believes there is nothing to rampant reports that Beckham wants play elsewhere. The most recent evidence was a video snippet gone viral of Beckham having serious conversation with 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in October.
“I think he wants to be here. I know he wants to be here,” Landry said.
“It’s not even about trying to go somewhere else. I think for him, he’s the leader, he’s a guy that comes to work every day, a guy that’s playing through injuries. All the things you want out of a player.
“Inside this organization, he has a voice, he has responsibility to himself, to all of us, to go out and compete each and every Sunday. I don’t think he wants to leave and he’s not trying to leave.”
Landry indicated Beckham is bothered by the growing perception that he wants to move on.
“I’m sure he sees it and it does take a toll to know that he’s putting his heart and soul into this season and this team and everybody else is trying to make a story out of things that aren’t really going on,” Landry said.
Man of year: Landry was the club’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which honors excellence on the field and commitment to community.
“This is by far one of the biggest and best things I could be up for with an opportunity to win,” Landry said.
Landry’s community causes include hosting fundraisers in Miami and Cleveland to raise money and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; co-chairing and emceeing the annual Cleveland Food Bank “Taste of the Browns” fundraiser; and supporting youth football efforts in Northeast Ohio, Miami and his home state of Louisiana.
“Growing up, I really never had somebody that was around my neighborhood that really came back and helped me and my neighborhood and community,” Landry said. “I think that’s what I’ve been trying to do every place I’ve been, going back to Baton Rouge to Miami and now in Cleveland.”
As for his play on the field, Landry leads the Browns with 69 receptions for 995 yards and five receiving touchdowns.
Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said, “Between him and [Nick] Chubb, they’re the MVPs of the team, to me. No matter what, the juice is always found between one of them two.”
Tough love: As Freddie Kitchens fielded more questions about receiver Rashard Higgins’ disappearance in the offense, the coach exclaimed, “I think you guys are trying to make a big problem with me and Hig. Hig goes out and does his job and does his work, and you have to make a [game day] decision. There’s no problem with me and Hig.”
Asked if Higgins’ most recent fall-off in offensive snaps stems from a report that he declined to take the field in the Seattle game, Kitchens said, “I don’t hold grudges. I don’t have a problem with Hig. I actually love Hig. Love being around him. Tried to get him to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. He said he had other plans.”
Man bites dog: Ninety-nine times out of 100, if you ask a coach about one of his player’s Pro Bowl worthiness, he will say, “Absolutely, he deserves it.”
Then this happened:
Question to Mike Priefer: Does punter Jamie Gillan deserve to make the Pro Bowl?
Priefer: “No, I do not think so. No, I am just going to be honest. I would let you know if I thought he did. I think Jamie is a very good punter. I think he is going to get better and better and better, and there are better punters than him right now out there that have performed better this year. You just have to be more consistent. Is he a Pro Bowl talent punter? Absolutely. Is he ready to be on the Pro Bowl roster this year? I do not think so. I think there are two or three AFC punters that have probably had better years than him. Honestly, we have to protect better for him, we have to cover better for him and he has to perform more consistently, and we will get him to that level.”
For the record, Gillan is third in the AFC in gross average (46.2 yards), 10th in net (40.7) and tied for sixth with 24 punts inside the 20.