BEREA — Mohamed Massaquoi couldn’t hide the disgust.

He made the catch on the sideline Wednesday during practice, but not before a juggle that would have led to an incompletion in a game. He threw the ball up to himself and let out a big sigh.

Minutes earlier, Brian Robiskie dropped a ball during a rapid-fire drill and was sent back to the starting line by coordinator Brian Daboll.

Life in the NFL remains filled with potholes for the rookie receivers thrust into the starting lineup and spotlight after the Oct. 7 trade of Braylon Edwards. The offense has scored just one touchdown in three games since, quarterback Derek Anderson’s three-game stretch is the worst in the NFL in decades and Massaquoi and Robiskie are being blamed for both.

“Obviously it’s tough not winning, and then not being able to contribute to help the team, that’s the biggest thing,” Robiskie said Wednesday. “I haven’t been in anything like this, but it’s part of it. We have to deal with this adversity and we have to get through it and keep moving forward.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes for us to win games.”

Robiskie had the perfect pedigree when the Browns drafted him with the 36th pick in April. His dad, Terry, played in the NFL and has coached receivers for years, including with the Browns.

He fell behind Massaquoi, the 50th pick, in the preseason and was inactive for Weeks 2 and 3. The trade opened the door for him to start, but his only catch was a 23-yarder Oct. 18 in Pittsburgh. He was blanked again by Green Bay Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Woodson on Sunday.

“Obviously they want us to come out and practice hard and watch the film, and you want to do all those things and all those things help,” Robiskie said. “But the best way to learn is to go out and play. I’ve learned so much more just being out on the field, going through it and seeing it live.”

In the last three games, Browns wide receivers have 10 catches. Chicago’s Devin Hester has 15 in the same span. For the season, Cleveland wideouts have 52 catches, while tight ends and running backs have 53.

“Everyone has to start someplace,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said on a conference call. “Both rookie receivers are talented athletes. I can see why they’re in the lineup.”

Massaquoi is entrenched as the No. 1 wideout, but has been plagued by inconsistency.

He caught eight passes for 148 yards against Cincinnati (before the Edwards trade), added five catches for 83 yards against Pittsburgh and leads the team with 17 catches for 300 yards. He was blanked in Denver and held to a single catch four times, hasn’t found the end zone and has seven drops.

“You want to be able to continue to make plays,” Massaquoi said. “When things aren’t going right, you want to be able to make the plays to turn it around.”

He insisted he wasn’t pressing and that the NFL isn’t harder than he expected.

“It’s different, but like anything else, you adjust,” he said. “I wouldn’t say tougher, I would just say different.”

The adjustment period for receivers is notoriously longer than at other positions, so the growing pains experienced by the duo are hardly outside the norm.

That doesn’t make them any less painful for Anderson and the offense. If the starting receivers aren’t getting open or hanging onto the ball, the options shrink.

“These guys are working their tails off and talking about things every day and getting better,” Anderson said. “When we watched film, (Robiskie) did a great job of getting open. He did a good job of getting in the right spot.”

The veteran presence in the receiver room is Mike Furrey, who lines up in the slot. He’s 32 and has played seven years. At 6-foot, he’s 2 inches shorter than Massaquoi and 3 inches shy of Robiskie, but his advice is one-size-fits-all.

“(You’ve) just got to keep plugging away, every play,” he said. “I was on Mohamed last week to just try to slow the game down a little bit. You’ve been in games, you’ve started games, you’ve caught balls in the games, so now it’s just a matter of timing.

“They’re our receivers. We’re expecting them to make plays.”

Anderson, Robiskie and Massaquoi keep saying the breakthrough is close.

“There’s a lot of plays to be made. If one thing is different, that play is made,” Massaquoi said. “Once we clean it all up, it could just spark everything.

“We have flashes, but once we start to do it on a consistent basis we’ll turn into a pretty good offense.”

Contact Scott Petrak at (440) 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---