The Cleveland Browns have been miserable on offense this season, and Sunday’s 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals did little to quell the notion that the team will turn around their misery this season.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson is feared to be lost for the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury, and the team traded away veteran wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills for a pair of draft picks.
With so many pieces missing, the Browns need every available athlete to ensure Cleveland can produce on the offensive end.
That’s why wide receiver Elijah Moore’s absence from the start of the Bengals’ contest was a curious one.
Moore did not play during the first two series, a fact analyst Zac Jackson noted after the contest on X.
Jackson also shared on X Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski’s answer as to why that happened, a five-word response that shed little light on the situation.
“I’ll keep that stuff internal,” Stefanski said.
Despite the benching, Moore finished with six catches on seven targets, hauling in 41 yards in the loss to Cincinnati.
Moore has had some controversy surrounding him this season as he’s been targeted infrequently throughout the year.
Against both the Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders, Moore hauled in one catch on only one target, finishing those games with a combined 14 yards receiving.
After the Raiders’ loss, his father took to X to voice his displeasure with the lack of targets.
For the year, Moore has caught 22 of his 30 targets for 136 yards without a touchdown.