LaRon Byrd wants to contribute to his new team, does not lack confidence despite limited resume

BEREA: New Browns wide receiver LaRon Byrd lacks experience and production in the NFL, but not confidence.

“I’ve got that dog in me,” Byrd said Monday after his first practice with the Browns. “I don’t take no for an answer. I’m not scared of competition. I go into a game with the mindset I’m the best on the field. A lot of people might say, ‘This guy hasn’t been in the league long.’ But that’s just my mindset. That’s the belief I have in myself.”

The Browns claimed the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Byrd off waivers from the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. He hopes to play in the regular-season opener Sunday at Pittsburgh.

“I want to get on the field,” Byrd said. “I want to contribute to the team. I don’t want to just be a guy on the roster. This is my job. I’m going to be in the coaches’ ear. They’re probably going to be tired of me by the end of this week.”

As an undrafted rookie from the University of Miami, Byrd appeared in four regular-season games in 2012 with the Arizona Cardinals and caught just one pass for 8 yards. He suffered a concussion during the 2013 preseason and sat out the rest of the year. The Cowboys signed him May 1 after the Cardinals cut him the previous month.

Byrd, 25, had seven catches for 103 yards and a touchdown this preseason.

“I showed I belong in this league and I can contribute to this game,” Byrd said. “My job is to come here and work hard and never get complacent. The preseason really doesn’t count, but I have to do that and translate that into the regular season.”

The Browns need Byrd to back up his talk. Last week, the NFL suspended All-Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon for at least the entire 2014 season, creating a huge void on offense.

“Everybody in the NFL, no matter what team it is, you always want to go into the situation with a great opportunity,” Byrd said. “Josh is a great receiver, so definitely having him here would be a great plus to the team. Unfortunately, he’s not here, so it’s the next-man-up mentality. I didn’t want it to play out like that for him to be out for me to get an opportunity, but you have to have that next-man-up mentality.”


(ohio.com)