Missing the first nine games of his rookie season while recovering from core muscle surgery hasn’t done anything to lower Jaguars wide receiver Dede Westbrook’s expectations for his first NFL action.
Westbrook, a fourth-round pick in April, is expected to make his regular season debut in Cleveland this weekend and he’s set a big goal for himself.
“My expectations are high,” Westbrook said on “Teal & Black Blitz” on SportsRadio 930, via ESPN.com. “I always set the standard high for myself. For me, and this has nothing to do with the Cleveland Browns at all, but my expectation is a 200-yard receiving game. Of course that’s going to come with me and Blake [Bortles] being on the same page most of the game, but at the end of the day, that’s the expectations that I have for myself this weekend.”
No one can blame Westbrook for shooting for the moon, but there won’t be much surprise if things don’t play out that way. The Jaguars have had two games where they’ve had under 200 passing yards as a team and their offensive identity is very much built around running the ball. It’s also supposed to be windy with a high likelihood of snow in Cleveland on Sunday, which won’t do much to make the Jags veer from their usual offensive approach.
That said, Westbrook’s arrival is a plus for the offense even if he fails to reach 100 receiving yards. Allen Robinson is out for the year and Allen Hurns is expected to miss at least this week’s game, so the team has a need for someone to step up at wideout.
Anquan Boldin set the record for most receiving yards in an NFL debut when he had 217 yards to go with two touchdowns for the Cardinals in September 2003.