For a brief moment Thursday afternoon, it appeared Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry had given the New England Patriots a whole bulletin board’s worth of motivation.
“We’re going to win,” Landry told reporters in Cleveland when asked about Sunday’s Pats-Browns matchup at Gillette Stadium. “I think it’s that simple. We’re getting guys back healthy again, and we’re going to win.”
Those comments immediately took off on social media and surely caught the attention of Patriots defenders, who already have taken offense to slights by Buffalo Bills tackle Dion Dawkins and New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold during their record-setting 7-0 start.
Landry, though, wasn’t guaranteeing victory, as his initial words seemed to imply. What the veteran wideout meant, he later told Cleveland reporters, was that the 2-4 Browns are going to New England with the intention of winning, the same way they approach every game.
Regardless of intent, there’s a good chance Bill Belichick, Kyle Van Noy or someone else in New England’s locker room will be able to spin this into a shot at the Patriots, providing additional motivation to a team that’s outscored opponents by a combined 175 points this season.
Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said Wednesday the Browns are expecting a monumental challenge against the defending Super Bowl champs.
“I think (the players) have television sets, and guys these days are all on the internet and stuff like that, so they’re well aware,” Kitchens said in a conference call with New England reporters. “I’m not going to try to fool them to think we’re going in to play a normal team. We’re not going in to play a normal team. We’re going in to play the New England Patriots.”
