Odell Beckham Jr.: Browns still looking for identity

[Chomps]

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For all the attention they’ve gotten through the offseason, the reality was that the Browns were still a very young team, with a lot of new parts, and new coaches and coordinators.

Expecting immediate success might not have been realistic.

Thus, star wideout Odell Beckham said he didn’t view last night’s loss to the Rams as a step back, rather a step in the journey of discovery.

“I don’t want to give an excuse that we’re a young team and we’re fresh and new together, but we’re still trying to find ourselves and find our identity,’’ Beckham said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “This Rams team has been together. They know what plays, when you do this, that. It’s just what they’ve done. They didn’t get to the Super Bowl by luck.

“We’re going to put it all together. We’re just finding the pieces right now, and I feel like once we discover exactly who we are and this team and everyone knows exactly who we are, we’ll be able to close games like that.”

Of course, there’s also the frightening possibility that they have found their identity and this is it, but the Browns should have the potential to be better offensively. But in their final sequence, the Rams were able to erase Beckham, which he was diplomatic about.

“From the beginning quarter of the game, the DBs are telling me ‘you know you’re going to get doubled today,’’ he said. “It’s just what it’s been since I’ve been in the league. When I get down there, it’s hard to beat two [DBs], but you find someone else to get open and we took our opportunities, we just didn’t hit them.

“It’s not that I need to be a primary down there or anything. Of course, you know me. I want the game in my hands, I want to win it, lose it, I want that on my plate. I’m ready for it but when you get two people down there, it’s tough. You can’t just force it in there. If he forces it in there, then we’d be asking ‘why did you force it in there and not throw it somebody else when they had single coverage,’ so it’s tough.’’

It’s the kind of problems teams have when they lack an identity.