Cleveland Browns Wideout Takes Blame For Loss To New York Giants

Browns second-year wide receiver Cedric Tillman opened up about late game miscue in Week 3

Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones (22) tackles Cleveland Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman (19) during the third quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Browns defeated the Jaguars 18-13. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The common line of thinking is that quarterbacks are the players sacked with blame when their team comes up short of winning a game. Don't tell that to Cleveland Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman though.

Following Cleveland 21-15 loss to the New York Giants, it was Tillman feeling the weight of a frustrating defeat. That's because with 2:28 remaining in the game the Browns faced a fourth down as they looked to piece together a potential game-winning drive.

At the snap of the pivotal play, Tillman got a free release ran a great route to get in front of Giants corner Deonte Banks on a slant. Quarterback Deshaun Watson saw the 2023 third-round pick win his route and fired a precision pass in a perfect spot out in front of him, but Tillman couldn't hang on.

As a result the Browns never got the ball back. Hence the young wideout's frustration after the game.

"I let the team down," Tillman said in the locker room afterwards. "Gotta make that play most of the time, but unfortunately I didn't make it today."

The Tennessee product made just one catch for four yards in the team's loss to New York. It was the third straight game where he only caught one pass for Cleveland. Despite his slow start and the costly drop, Tillman has the support of his Browns teammates, starting with Watson, who vowed to continue looking his way.

“Just keep his head up," Watson said of what he told the 24-year-old. "I told him I was coming to him on that play, too. I gave him that opportunity. I’m gonna give him a chance to make a shot. Sometimes it happens like that and the ball just didn’t bounce our way and we didn’t get to capitalize it. But, you know, I motivated him, ‘hey, I’m gonna keep coming back to you’. All my guys. It’s a long season, it’s only game three. And we gotta, of course, fix things ASAP, very, very fast. But at the same time, we can’t get down on each other."

Veteran wide receiver Amari Cooper can relate to how Tillman feels. He's had plenty of drops throughout his career, including two big ones over the first two weeks of the season. The nine-year veteran made sure to come to his wide receiver-mate's defense.

"As a vet I've been in that situation a lot, obviously" Cooper said. "I just told him to never let 'em see you sweat. Those things happen, it's football. At the end of the day those guys on the other side of the ball get paid too. Anytime you in a situation like that you just wanna be able to learn from it."