Cleveland Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy has once again addressed a viral video that some interpreted as a sign of preference in the team's ongoing quarterback competition. The footage, which circulated on social media in July, showed Jeudy flashing four fingers, leading to speculation that it referred to Deshaun Watson, who wears number 4.
Jeudy stated that the gesture was actually in reference to his daughter's age. "I threw out the four because she’s four years old," Jeudy told reporters at training camp on Wednesday.
The receiver confirmed he spoke with both Watson and Shedeur Sanders, the quarterbacks currently in contention for the starting role. "I don’t know what they’re thinking in their mind, so I had to just go up there and clear it up to them and know what really happened and not what the media portrayed it to be," Jeudy said.
This is not the first time Jeudy has addressed the video. He previously called out social media users for creating a narrative around his actions. "I’ve been in the league for seven years — at least five or six of the years, it’s all been a quarterback competition within those years," Jeudy noted. "I think I’m mature enough and wise enough to not answer questions like that. For everyone to believe that I would answer something like that on social media is kind of wild, but you got to understand this is where we’re in and understand how everybody’s viewing the quarterback competition in this room."
Jeudy acknowledged that the intense focus on the quarterback competition means "every little thing is going to try to turn it into that." He added, "Which I get it, I understand. But like I said, I spoke on it. I said what I truly felt about the situation, and I leave it off from there. If anybody wants to believe that, that’s what they want to believe."
The wide receiver is entering his third season with the Browns, having previously spent four seasons with the Denver Broncos. The video in question appeared to be edited, featuring a jump between the quarterback-related question and Jeudy's response.