Pat McManamon, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

How will Browns fill void left by Josh Gordon's imminent release?

NEW ORLEANS -- Hue Jackson informed the Cleveland Browns as a team Saturday night that receiver Josh Gordon would be released.

"Nobody flinched," Jackson said after a painful 21-18 loss to the Saints. "They understood."

Which may have been true about the game; Gordon was not on the plane, so his teammates knew he would not be playing.

But the decision to cut ties with Gordon -- the team said he would be released Monday -- brought varying responses.

"It’s tough because he’s a special talent, but at the same time some decisions get made that you don’t really have control over," quarterback Tyrod Taylor said.

Receiver Rahsard Higgins told ESPN Cleveland the decision to release Gordon was "shocking to us."

Jarvis Landry declined to talk about the decision.

"That’s a brother to us," Higgins said. "We respect him. We still have his back."

Did Higgins understand the decision?

"I still have questions, definitely," he said.

In announcing Gordon’s upcoming release -- ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported the Browns might trade Gordon -- the team said it had stood by him for six years. When Gordon practiced all last week and then showed up Saturday complaining about his hamstring, the Browns decided they had hit their limit.

"We did what we felt we had to do as an organization," Jackson said.

"It’s tough because he’s a good guy, and you hope he gets all the help he can get," guard Joel Bitonio said.

"It is a business," said defensive end Myles Garrett, like Bitonio and Taylor a team captain. "He is one of your family members, but at the end of the day you have to have a short memory in the NFL. He was a part of it, now you need someone else to fill that role, whether it is one of our guys here or somebody they are going to bring in."

Immediate chatter centered on the possibility of signing former Dallas receiver Dez Bryant, but there seems to be more speculation and questions on that happening outside the team than there is action within. The Browns had Bryant in for a visit during the preseason, but did not sign him and he remains unsigned. New England, a team badly in need of receivers, also has not signed Bryant. Last week the Patriots added Browns castoff Corey Coleman.

In the loss to New Orleans, the group of remaining receivers played well. Landry and rookie Antonio Callaway started, with Rashard Higgins the third. The trio combined for 13 catches for 197 yards and one touchdown -- with four of the catches for more than 20 yards.

Callaway may be the most important of the trio, and if he comes through it could lessen the need to add another player. He only got 15 snaps in the opener, but was on the field a lot in New Orleans, and even ran twice on end-arounds.

"He knows the opportunity that’s in front of him," Taylor said.

His biggest play came when he raced down the right sideline and caught a pass from Taylor in the back of the end zone for a 47-yard touchdown to tie the game at 18 with 1:16 left.

"I thought Tyrod was throwing it to me and it was overthrown," Landry said. "Then I looked and I see Antonio hit another gear and put his hands out and make the catch and get his feet in."

Callaway was running full speed and had to make the catch and get his feet down to make sure he scored.

"That was big time, big boy football," Landry said. "And that is what we we expect him to do. We are going to need a lot more out of him this year, just like that."

"I think he made a lot of strides today," Taylor said, "and it’ll only build confidence for him moving forward."

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