BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns may be short on wins over the last few seasons, but they are confident in the talent on the roster after spending the entire offseason rebuilding and reconstructing the depth chart.
After going through the offseason program, Browns coach Hue Jackson is confident the hard work put in by the team will get the organization to a much better place from which to compete in 2018 than it was in either 2016 or 2017, when Cleveland combined to go 1-31.
“We still have to play the game,” Jackson said after the offseason program.
“We still have got a lot of work to do. It is just fun to be around the guys and to watch them run around and work -- watch things start to happen the way that they should offensively, defensively and with special teams. Again, I think that I have a really good staff. There are some good players out there and I think that they are working hard.”
Heading into the final year of his rookie contract, running back Duke Johnson wanted to reach a contract extension with the Browns, and his patience in negotiations paid off in a long-term commitment from the team last week.
In three years out of Miami, Johnson has rushed for 1,085 yards and five touchdowns on 259 carries, as well as turned 188 catches into 1,741 yards and five scores, and enters the 2018 season on the heels of a career year last fall.
Despite the Browns finishing with an 0-16 record in 2017, Johnson rushed for 348 yards and a career-best four touchdowns along with 26 first downs. Additionally, Johnson caught 74 passes for 693 yards, three touchdowns and nine 20-yard throws.
All of Johnson’s receiving statistics from 2017 were single-season career bests and the catches and receiving yards were the most on the team.
“Obviously, Duke’s a special player,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “He kind of does a little bit of everything. He’s a hybrid and he’s very good at it and there’s a reason he’s had success and he just signed a big contract, so he’s a great player within.”
Jackson added, “I think Duke is just a playmaker. I think he can run with the ball. Now, obviously, we have two other very capable runners. Obviously, his trait has been catching and he has caught it as well as anybody. He gives you that versatility to where you can put Duke in at a lot of places.”
Since joining the Browns through a second-round pick in the 2012 NFL Supplemental Draft, Gordon has turned 179 catches into 3,089 yards and 15 touchdowns.
A Pro Bowl player in 2013, Gordon set a franchise record with an NFL-best 1,646 yards on 87 receptions with nine of those catches going for touchdowns despite missing the first two games of the season because of a suspension.
Despite being suspended for 56 career games, 55 of which were NFL bans for positive drug and alcohol tests, including a 44-game stretch from 2015 through most of 2017, Gordon turned 18 catches into 335 yards and one touchdown after his return from the censures.
Additionally, Gordon was on the receiving end of five passes that have gone for gains of at least 20 yards and converted 12 first downs.
“I am proud of him,” Jackson said of Gordon. “I think we all are in the organization because that is something that is tough. He has handled it. He has done his responsibility. We have tried to create the right environment for him to be all that he can be.
“We have supported him. He has done what we have asked him to do. So far, so good. He knows that we have got to keep going this offseason, once away from here, and it will be very important. We will get Josh back here and get ready for training camp.”