National Football League

Terrelle Pryor says he's 'part of the reason' the Browns are 0-12

Published Dec. 9, 2016 1:02 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

Terrelle Pryor has been a sparkplug for the lackluster Browns this season, providing some much-needed positivity in an otherwise lost season. His transition from quarterback to wide receiver hasn’t been seamless, but it’s been just about as smooth as you can expect from a player in his second year of the switch.

Through 12 games, Pryor has 62 receptions for 855 yards and four touchdowns. He’s currently eighth in the NFL in yards, trailing the likes of Odell Beckham Jr. by just 60 in that department. Pryor still isn’t satisfied, though.

“I could be so much better it’s not even funny,” Pryor said, via Ohio.com. “Some plays that I’ve missed or some plays that I could’ve made off of that inexperience, I would say, my numbers, I may be over 1,000 [receiving yards] already, way beyond.”

The most impressive part of Pryor’s season has been the fact that he’s having so much success despite being on a winless team that’s used five different quarterbacks. The constant unfamiliarity with the guys throwing him passes is a huge challenge, given that it’s hard to develop any sort of chemistry in a situation like that.

Pryor has undoubtedly been the Browns’ best player this season, and it’s not even close. Gary Barnidge is second on the team with 468 yards, just over half of Pryor’s total. And even though Pryor is arguably a top-12 receiver in the NFL right now, he believes he’s part of the reason they’re 0-12.

“Am I happy about the little success I’m having? Yeah. I mean that’s everybody. You’d be stupid for somebody to sit up here and say they don’t care about them being successful or doing something well,” Pryor said. “But I feel there’s so much more that I could do well that I feel like I’m part of the reason we’re 0-12. That’s how I think of it. That’s what pushes me every day to try to have a perfect game. ... That’s what I’m chasing.”

If Pryor thinks he’s part of the reason they’re 0-12, he needs to picture what this team would look like without him on it. The passing game would be stagnant, quarterbacks would have far less success and they’d be even harder to watch than they already are.