A viral clip suggested the receiver picked sides in the Cleveland Browns quarterback battle, but Jerry Jeudy reveals the innocent truth behind the doctored social media video
The internet can be a wild place these days. Between AI slop and everything being left open to interpretation, sometimes the simplest comment (or in Jerry Jeudy's case) hand signal can be completely misconstrued.
Jeudy found himself at the center of a viral controversy in the days leading up to training camp when a Tik Tok live video seemed to show him flashing up the No. 4 with his hand in support of veteran quarterback Deshaun Watson, as a commenter appeared to ask which QB he wants to win the Cleveland Browns' open competition at the position.
Immediately after the clip made the rounds on social media, Jeudy defended himself, pointing out that the video had been doctored and blaming the current social media climate for making something out of nothing.
Over a week later, as Day 7 of training camp commenced, he went in more detail explaining the situation, making it clear that the hand motion had nothing to do with the Browns QB situaiton at all.
"If you could watch the video, you could see it was cut," he said. "Then whoever did it scrolled up to make it seem like I was answering that question, which I wasn't. There's a thousand questions popping up rolling all at once. I seen some guys saying I was throwing up a 4PF. I wasn't. Some guy was saying it because my four collar jersey. But before the video cut, it was me and my daughter and I showed a video. I showed my daughter and somebody was asking how old she is and I threw out the four because she's four years old."
It's a fine explanation by Jeudy, but one that even he knows won't suffice some of the masses that exist on the internet.
"Everybody going to make it to seem like I should have been thinking and saying it instead of throwing up the four, knowing everybody going to make it seem bigger than what it is," he added. "But it's just part of the game."
As camp rolls into it's second week, Watson is in a heated battle with Shedeur Sanders for the starting QB job. Jeudy's relationship with Watson is certainly well-documented, but he isn't letting that impact a situation that is still sorting itself out on the field.
Jeudy has been part of plenty if quarterback competitions in his career. As he emphasized, he's seasoned in how to handle himself in press conference settings or otherwise.
"I just got on TikTok live and just to interact with the fans and stuff like that," Jeudy said. "But that's all it was. If I don't even answer quarterback question here, why would I answer quarterback on TikTok?"
