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Cleveland Browns receiver Greg Little showing more maturity, reliability

By Tom Reed, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Sheldon Brown required just five words to summarize the growth he and others are witnessing in Browns receiver Greg Little.

"He is becoming a pro," the 33-year-old cornerback said.

Many assume that happens the moment a player signs his first contract or cashes his first check. But for twenty-something kids fresh from college, the process can take a season or two. And, sometimes a player can be out of the NFL before he understands what it means to be a pro.

Little is demonstrating more maturity and reliability after a turbulent start to a season that drew the wrath of fans and coaches. Prodded by coach Pat Shurmur and pushed by rookie wideout Josh Gordon, the second-year North Carolina product has cut down on his dropped passes and reeled in his persona.

The result: 16 receptions for 150 yards in the past four games. He has an many touchdowns (one) as he does drops in that span -- and without a single Tweet. The engaging Little still believes he's misunderstood by fans, but such opinion is easier to accept when he's catching passes and finishing blocks.

"I think in times of adversity it shows you who you are," Little said when asked about what he's learned about himself this season. "It's easy to be cheery when everything is OK. Adversity shows who you are as a person and your character."

After catches, Little has eschewed the Usain Bolt pose -- the one that annoyed Shurmur -- even as he still marks first downs with an arm slightly extended before dropping the ball. His boycott of Twitter has stretched into a seventh week after clashing with fans over poses and celebrations in a losing effort.

Brown believes the social-media backlash might have done some good.

"I've seen a difference in him since he stopped Tweeting," Brown said. "When you do that kind of stuff, people start focusing on you more. You make small mistakes and they become magnified . . .

"(Fan reaction) probably shocked him. You are a grown-up now. This is not college."

Little said those closest to him, teammates, friends and coaches, know the type of person he is. By most accounts, Little is a likable individual, and certainly one of the Browns' most quotable players.

After catching 61 passes last season -- and dropping 14 others -- Little had hoped to improve on the first total and make bigger plays. He had just two touchdowns and averaged 11.6 yards per grab.

Through the first five weeks of this season, however, Little had 11 receptions and six drops and twice finished games without a catch.

"I was trying to do so much more than just being myself on the field; just trying to create much more than the play is designed for," said Little, who admits he was guilty of trying to run with the ball before making the catch. "Now, (it's) just take what's there and just going with it."

The emergence of Gordon as a deep-play threat and potential No. 1 receiver also is a factor. Little has four fewer catches than at this time a season ago, but what's more telling is the number of times he's been targeted (48) -- down from 68 a year ago.

Brown believes the play of Gordon, who has caught four TDs and is averaging 21.9 yards a catch, is spurring Little's recent surge.

"We have a guy like Josh Gordon who is making plays as a rookie," Brown said. "Now, the expectations for you go up."

Most don't project the converted running back as a No. 1 receiver, but Little could settle into the role as secondary target, especially with his size (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) and willingness to block.

"Yeah. I mean, you're a receiver; you get paid to catch the ball," Little said. "Blocking is very underrated. Coaches and my teammates, they really appreciate it."

Shurmur sees a player who's now more focused on the game's details and less on his next celebration. Little planned to spend the bye week training in Florida

"He's gotten away from doing some of the things that I don't care for so he's listening," Shurmur said. "He wants to be a good player, he wants to be a good pro. And I've said this, as long as they're our players we'll work with them."

Thanks for posting.

Might as well talk about Little. It's gonna be a long two weeks.

I don't know if I have any true rational for feeling this way, but my impression is that the further down field Little goes, the less likely he is to catch the ball. That makes me want him to be a possession (*gulp*) receiver who does his work on the shorter stuff. We've got the speed guy and the potential #1 guy. We need a good TE and a good possession receiver. It was just a few games ago where Little was being phased out because of the drops. I'm not about to sing his praises after a couple of games without drops. I just hope he can continue to develop the hands that he hasn't yet consistently shown...

I always assumed that's why they got him, as a former RB, you get the ball in his hands quick and let him do whats natural...

Little is not natural when catching the ball over the top. I think that he can improve, but I watch him on deep balls where he has to completely turn his body back to the QB and jump up to catch the ball, instead of maintaining his route and letting the ball come down in front of him.

I do think that he is much more comfortable running those routes like he ran as a RB. he likes the shorter passes, where he can catch the ball in space, and use his ability to run after the catch.

Hey, when you're a Browns fan, there's nowhere to reach for but up!

C'mon, Santa. Stop screwin' around with the elves, put down the egg-nog, and turn Little into a reliable receiver, will ya?

I think he's done a really nice job even on deeper routes recently. He had a nice one deep left this past ravens game and actually had a nice one deep left in the previous ravens game. I think little was just so concerned about scoring a touchdown on every catch that he was getting ahead of himself. Last couple games you can see him catch, collect himself, then run. Hopefully once he's reprogrammed himself to focus on the catch he can speed that transition up. Remember when receivers got to play into their third year before the book is written on them? And very few of them had little's history.

I really like the glimpses of greatness we've seen. He needs to nail his routes and hang onto the ball, but the kid has serious moves. Love hearing that he's maturing, he'll be good all over the field if he continues to develop as he has in the past couple of weeks.

j/c

one thing you HAVE to love about Little is that he is trying.

he is trying to the right thing by the fans
he is trying to do the right thing by the coachs
he is trying to do the right thing for his team
he is trying to improve his catching
he is trying to improve his route running

In a league with players that don't care and it's "me first" he was able to stop himself from being the next player to get Peyton Hillis syndrome.

I like this kid even more.

Agreed. I've see than in both Little and Gordon. They WANT to be good at what they do. I really like the improvement we've seen in Little's game over the past 2-3 weeks and hope to see that continue. He could be a beastly possession guy.

Yes, Little's gotten better. I've gone from having zero faith in him catching the ball to 60/40. And we've seen flashes of what we expected to see AFTER the catch too. Could be a good # 2 some day, if he continues improving.

As for Gordon, If I were pickin' talent for this team, I'd pretend like he wasn't even here and go for a #1 in the offseason. Has he left anyone satisfied in missing out on the top of the 2nd round in the draft yet?

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Shurmur said. "He wants to be a good player, he wants to be a good pro. And I've said this, as long as they're our players we'll work with them."

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Or at least as long as you're w/ the team there, Shurm.

leaving the book open on Gordon. he is lost on anything underneath, but has shown a great burst deep. he didn't do anything vs. Baltimore, but they were playing cover-2 which takes away anything deep.

let's see how he progresses as the season goes along

i even mentioned Gordon by name. I was talking about Josh.

with Little, he's getting better at the underneath stuff, but he still seems clunky with the double-moves. he's been better catching the ball though, hope that continues.

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b/c Little should have had a TD in that Ravens game on a right post in the corner of the end zone but Weeds didn't throw it to him.

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yep, but it was a deep out or a corner, not a post. Wide open.