Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry had teammates singing his praises for a block on Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson during running back Carlos Hyde's 4-yard touchdown run Friday night against the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills, however, aren't entirely too pleased with Landry's block, which leveled an unsuspecting Johnson.
"Landry, he's a good receiver, physical guy, but some of those plays that he has -- (safety) Aaron Williams, Taron, I'm pretty sure he has other ones -- I just think they're dirty," Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said Sunday, via Mike Rodak of ESPN. "Coming from the outside of the box in, the league needs to do a better job of calling penalties on those types of plays.
"Obviously, defenders get called all the time on stuff that is probably less egregious than that. If we're going to protect our football players, we need to protect everybody, not just offensive guys. It was dirty at the end of the day, and that's how I feel about it."
Landry came from the right side of the field at the snap of the football and planted himself inside the 5-yard line just as Hyde sprung to the outside. Johnson was in pursuit of Hyde, but Landry lowered his shoulder before delivering what the Browns described on Twitter as an "incredible" block to spring Hyde free for the scoring run.
While Landry did not draw a penalty, Bills safety Micah Hyde joined Alexander in having a strong opinion on the block.
"That's ridiculous," Hyde said, via ESPN. "Because if a defensive player does that to an offensive player, he's getting ejected. I don't care if he lowered his shoulder or not. He's coming all the way from No. 1, past the numbers and flying down onto the hashes and cleaning up somebody. That's the same as that play that Aaron Williams got hit on a couple years back and basically ruined his career.
"To me, that's B.S. You can't do that. All you have to do is get into position, screen him off. He doesn't have to come in and try to kill anybody."
For his part, the 5-foot-11, 196-pound Landry told reporters Sunday there is a level of self-gratification in his blocking ability.
"I pride myself on being a complete receiver," Landry said, via the Browns' official website. "And it takes those types of plays, making those types of blocks, or just a block period, to make sure Carlos could get in or Duke (Johnson), whoever's running the ball, or another receiver. It's important."
Friday night's matchup wasn't the first time the Bills have had an issue with Landry's blocking.
In October 2016, then-Bills coach Rex Ryan called out Landry, who was with the Miami Dolphins, for what Ryan categorized as a "totally unnecessary" hit that sent Williams to the hospital with head and neck injuries. Landry drew a personal foul for unnecessary roughness on the play.
