Amari Cooper on Browns' shocking collapse vs. Jets: 'We should have easily won the game'

CLEVELAND — Amari Cooper and David Bell sat next to each other Sunday afternoon in the home team's locker room at FirstEnergy Stadium and engaged in a private conversation.

The two Browns wide receivers were also near each other on the field when the New York Jets executed an onside kick in crunch time with near perfection. The Jets then parlayed their recovery into a dramatic 31-30 victory over the Browns, who fell to 1-1 a week after securing their first season-opening win since 2004.

“I'm thinking what everybody else is thinking — we should have easily won the game,” Cooper said. “It's very frustrating.

“You've just got to play the next game. You know what I mean? You can't look back and you can't change the past. You just learn from it.”

After blown coverage in the Browns' secondary allowed the Jets (1-1) to trim their deficit to 30-24 via quarterback Joe Flacco's 66-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Corey Davis with 1:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, Cleveland used its second timeout to prepare for punter Braden Mann's onside kick.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said the Browns believed Mann would kick to his left — toward the Jets' sideline — and the players on the hands team were informed.

“Just wanted to look at how they were setting up with their kicker,” Stefanski said. “Just trying to look at his approach and just confirm with the side that type of kick was coming was what we were trying to do [during the timeout].”

Browns coaches guessed right on the direction of the kick, but to no avail.

Jets' Will Parks gets past Amari Cooper for onside kick recovery

The three Browns players closest to the Jets' sideline were Bell, Cooper and linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Cooper lined up a few yards behind Bell and Owusu-Koramoah.

When Mann kicked the ball, Bell and Owusu-Koramoah blocked Jets players, leaving Cooper and Jets safety Will Parks one-on-one along the sideline. Parks dived in front of Cooper, nearly recovering the ball himself and bumping Cooper out of bounds.

“You can bat the ball out of bounds if you need to,” Browns safety John Johnson III said. “I think we probably should have used that tool.”

After Parks beat Cooper to the ball, Bell actually got his left hand on it as it bounced. But as bodies fell around Bell, Jets cornerback Justin Hardee recovered the ball at the New York 47 with 1:20 left to play.

“I would have to ask [Cooper] if it's eating at him,” Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. “I think we all know there are more plays in the game than the onside kick.”

There most certainly were.

With the Jets out of timeouts, the Browns could have run down the clock instead of scoring on running back Nick Chubb's 12-yard rushing TD with 1:55 left. Even after the Jets recovered the onside kick, they had to score, which they did when Flacco connected with rookie receiver Garrett Wilson for the game-winning 15-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left.

An Ohio State product and the 10th overall pick in this year's NFL Draft, Wilson dropped a pass earlier in the fourth quarter, killing a Jets possession on third-and-4 with 7:51 remaining.

Browns special teams suffers another letdown

Another letdown by Browns special teams — they surrendered a first down on an opening-quarter fake punt that extended a touchdown drive and rookie kicker Cade York missed an extra point with 1:55 left — opened the door for Wilson to redeem himself in Cleveland's home opener.

“I went crazy [when the onside kick was recovered],” Wilson said. “I’m sure there will be a TV clip. I went absolutely crazy on the sideline. I didn’t want my drop to be the reason why we lost the game.”

Wilson finished with eight catches on 14 targets for a game-high 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Cooper had an even more efficient outing, though. The four-time Pro Bowl selection caught nine passes on 10 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown, a 6-yard reception with 8:17 left in the second quarter.

The only target Cooper didn't catch resulted in the game-clinching interception.

Playing through an ankle injury suffered with about five minutes left, Brissett scrambled for 21 yards and ran out of bounds with 12 seconds remaining to set up first-and-10 at the Cleveland 46. On the next play, safety Ashtyn Davis intercepted Brissett's pass intended for Cooper and returned it 14 yards with six seconds left.

Victory formation. Game over.

“We had dig routes,” Cooper said. “I really don't know what coverage they were in, but the safety came out of nowhere and intercepted the ball. They played a 60-minute football game, something we should have done.”

Cooper said he thought the Browns were capable of setting up a late York field goal until the very end.

The collapse, however, spoiled otherwise stellar performances by Brissett and Cooper a week after they connected just three times on six targets for 17 yards in a 26-24 win over the Carolina Panthers. The Browns' starting QB during Deshaun Watson's 11-game suspension, Brissett completed 22 of 27 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown with an interception for a rating of 98.9.

“[Brissett] played well,” Cooper said. “I think we played well as an offense. Obviously, we didn't get the result we wanted to get, but at the end of the day, we've just got to keep going.

“We're a team. It's going to say a lot about us how we approach this next game.”

There isn't much time to lick wounds. The AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) are next Thursday night in Cleveland.

“It's tough,” Cooper said. “Especially when it's a game like this, a game you should have won, a game you had in the bag.”

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Amari Cooper says Browns 'should have easily' defeated Jets