Cleveland Browns wide receiver Antonio Callaway had a really solid rookie year in 2018, so when he is getting second and third-team reps behind even Jaelen Strong and Derrick Willies in training camp, you start to wonder what's up.
As a matter of fact, it wasn't until Strong sustained an injury in practice on Wednesday that Callaway was able to finally get some time with the first team.
Apparently, the Browns want to see more consistency from Callaway before they hand him a clear role.
“What we ask of everybody is consistency,’’ said quarterback Baker Mayfield, according to Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. “We don’t want to be a rollercoaster team. You don’t want to be up and down. And I’m not saying that Callaway’s doing that every day, but we’ve got to be able to have guys that rotate and play different spots, and we’re working him at a couple of different spots.”
Callaway caught 43 passes for 586 yards and five touchdowns this past year, so seeing him falling behind Strong, who has totaled 31 receptions in three NFL seasons, and Willies, who went undrafted last year and logged just three catches in 2018, is certainly puzzling.
But Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens insists that this is about competition more than anything else.
“I think everybody understands who our starting receivers are, okay?’’ Kitchens said. “Everybody else is competing, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. We do not have one depth chart in our room anywhere. I don’t care who’s in there. I just want them competing. I don’t care if you have three wide receivers Baker has never thrown to or Jarvis, Odell and Hig [Rashard Higgins] and Callaway. I don’t care.’’
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