Jarvis Landry feels physically and mentally better than a year ago. (TLOD)
After a miserable season in 2020, Jarvis Landry is in a better state physically and mentally
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Since they were teammates at LSU, Jarvis Landry has been overshadowed by Odell Beckham Jr. It’s just the way it is.
Beckham is flamboyant on the field and a social media magnet. Landry is as tough a receiver as they come, but style sometimes wins over substance. Life isn’t always fair. Beckham has 4.1 million Twitter followers; Landry just over a half million.
Their three-year statistics at LSU were similar. Beckham pulled away with a 4.43 clocking at the 2014 NFL Combine and Landry has been running from behind ever since. Beckham was drafted in the first round, Landry in the second.
Beckham’s comeback from ACL surgery is a huge story nationally and locally. But Landry is making a comeback, too, from the most challenging and miserable season of his seven-year NFL career.
“Yeah, for sure,” Landry said before his first practice of training camp.
Pressure to play
It all started with a rushed comeback from major hip surgery in the 2020 offseason. The rush was self-imposed. Landry wanted to keep his consecutive games played streak alive to start the season. But he wasn’t able to prepare for the long NFL season like in the past.
“I don’t know if you guys know, but I just rehabbed the whole time,” he said. “I did no strength and development, I did no speed training. I just played the season off of rehab.”
In the fifth game against Indianapolis, Landry suffered cracked ribs on an early hit. He crawled off the field, but returned to play. He didn’t miss a game until he was ruled out of the 15th game against the Jets because of Covid contact tracing protocols. His career streak was snapped at 110 games.
Despite the Browns’ team success, Landry suffered career lows in receptions (72) and touchdowns (three). He went 10 games without his first touchdown.
“It was challenging,” Landry said. “There were a lot of things going around my head that I might not have shown on the field or in these environments. But I had the right people around me. Everybody in the training room was supportive. They were here to make sure I was getting the right [treatment], whether it was watching my practicing or making sure I was getting things I needed in the training room.
“It still was tough because I knew I wasn’t where I needed to be, but I wanted to be there for the guys. It was important that I kept not missing a game.
“The second half of the season I began to feel better, the further I got away from surgery,’' he said. “That helped me with the confidence standpoint of being able to really stick my foot in the ground, be able to change directions like I wanted to.”
Over the last five regular-season games he played, Landry averaged seven receptions for 73.8 yards. He had his three touchdowns and his only 100-yard game in that span. Then he added 12 receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the two playoff games.
Back to work
Without having to rehab from surgery, Landry dedicated this offseason to returning to a training regimen to prepare him for his eighth season, fourth with the Browns. He lost weight and worked on his speed again.
It’s made a whale of difference in his mental state approaching what is expected to be a big season for the Browns.
“It was really important to me this offseason to really hone in on the things that I’ve been kind of collecting about myself and learning about myself throughout the years about being a professional,” Landry said. “Each year I’ve added a little bit more to my routine, to my offseason.
“So now I’ve had the opportunity to do that this year and pay more attention and be more detailed with that. And that has helped me greatly.
“It’s given me a lot more motivation, given me a lot more love back to the game. When you go through surgery, they don’t tell you about the mental part of trying to recover, things like that. Having an offseason like I have this year is very important to me.”
Landry won’t be a comeback player of the year candidate, like Beckham, because he only missed one game last year. But make no mistake, this is a comeback season for him.
“I feel great,” he said. “Obviously I’m still getting better. Still got another month or so before we play our first game. I still got some work to do. I feel way better than I felt this time last year.”
