It's hard to find a photo of Kenny Britt from the regular season because he only has two catches. So here's an almost-catch from the preseason win over the Saints. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)

A closer look at Kenny Britt

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Kenny Britt’s stat line after two games with the Browns isn’t what the team hoped for when it signed him to a four-year deal worth $32 million.

Britt has two catches for 15 yards. He has had five passes thrown his way. Odds are you don’t remember those two catches. But you probably remember the drop in the middle of the field against the Steelers in Week 1. Or the offensive pass interference penalty against the Ravens on Sunday. Or the general perception that Britt lacks effort.

As Dan Labbe wrote on Tuesday:

Jackson didn't call out wide receiver Kenny Britt on Monday, but he didn't exactly go to bat for him. In fact, over the course of three questions about Britt, Jackson said Britt's name once and talked about the offense as a whole -- even when he was asked specifically if he was pleased with Britt's effort.

"Am I pleased with his effort?" Jackson said. "Again, we have to play better as an offensive unit all the way around - at receiver, running back, everywhere. We have to play harder, and that is what we have to do as a football unit."

Only DeShone Kizer and the starting offensive linemen have played more offensive snaps than Britt (94) this season. But six players have more catches, including receivers Corey Coleman, Rashard Higgins and Ricardo Louis.

So just what was Britt doing all game against the Ravens? Why weren’t Kizer and Kevin Hogan throwing his way? Was he not getting open? Was it fair to question his effort?

I decided to take a closer look at the game film. Here’s what I found.

By Scott Patsko, cleveland.com

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Kenny Britt and Al Saunders talk during a 2017 training camp practice. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)

Broad strokes

While watching Sunday’s game film I put Britt’s play into a few different categories.

1. The number of times he was targeted with a pass.

2. The number of times Kizer/Hogan looked his way.

3. The number of times he looked to be open, but didn’t get a pass thrown his way.

Keep in mind that I don’t know the play calls or the routes Britt was supposed to be running, or if he made cuts at the right place or correct angles. I’m just trying to figure out how he played so many snaps and had so little to show for it.

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Britt's targets

Britt had three passes thrown his way. All three came in the first half. His one catch was a screen the Ravens shut down for a two-yard gain. He did catch the ball a second time (above) but was penalized for pushing off, so it didn’t count.

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A third target came on a play that might not have been intended for Britt, but still resulted in criticism on social media.

Britt (at the top of the formation) ran a sideline route and seemed to get tangled up with his defender while trying to get to the inside. Higgins, meanwhile, was running a route toward the sideline near Britt. Kizer stepped up in the pocket and fired their way, overshooting everybody.

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Was Britt open?

The Browns passed 42 times on Sunday, and Britt was probably on the field for at least half of those throws. Again, only the Browns know how often he was the No. 1 option on a play, and how open a receiver is can be open to debate. But, I counted at least nine plays where Britt was open enough to have a pass thrown his way. In many cases, Kizer or Hogan didn’t look his way. Also, I counted eight plays where a Browns QB seemed to look at Britt, and that included the three plays where the ball went his way.

Let’s take a closer look at some plays where I thought he was open.

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This play (above) resulted in Kizer’s second-quarter fumble. Britt is at the top of the screen. He gets to the outside of his defender off the ball, then gets behind him and looks to be open for a deep pass. But Kizer looks right the entire play and is hit from behind, resulting in the fumble.

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This was a third-quarter play that resulted in an incomplete pass to Coleman in the end zone. He was covered tightly. Britt is in the slot on the right and runs a slant to the left corner of the end zone, managing to get to the inside of his defender. There’s a safety sitting over the top of his route, but a pump fake or glance to Coleman probably gets rid of him. Instead, Hogan looks Britt’s way early – perhaps to keep the safety in place - then throws for Coleman.

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This play resulted in Kizer’s third interception. Britt is at the top of the jumble formation at the top of the screen and runs a short crossing route on this third-and-5 play. Kizer almost throws a deep pass but pulls it back and runs right. Britt is crossing with him and eventually stops in an open pocket. If Kizer throws to Britt here, he could fall down and have the first down. But Kizer tries to get the ball to Higgins, resulting in the interception.

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The Browns face third-and-7 at the Ravens 23-yard line with 37 seconds to play. Britt (bottom) is one-on-one and gets to the inside of his defender and puts up his hand to get Kizer’s attention. But Kizer is looking to the left, where David Njoku drops the pass.

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Here’s Britt (bottom) running a slant route on second-and-2. It looks like the kind of play Terrelle Pryor used for big gains last season. The linebacker comes up to cover Seth DeValve, creating open space for Britt. But the ball is out of Hogan’s hands – and headed to Higgins on the other side - by the time Britt cuts in.

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There were a few others, like the one above, where Britt (top of the formation) finds a spot in the zone near the sideline, but the ball doesn’t come his way. Kizer even looks his way early on this play but goes to the opposite side with his throw. Britt ran this route on each side of the field Sunday.

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Britt did a few routes like the one above (bottom of the formation) where he curls and stops. On this one he finds a spot in the middle of the Ravens defense, but Kizer decides to throw to Coleman underneath, and the pass is dropped. It's possible Britt's role on this play was to help clear a path for Coleman.

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Off the ball

At 6-foot-3, 223 pounds, Britt is the team's largest receiver, making him useful as a blocker. On the play above, he used his size to his advantage. This is the play where Hogan throws deep for DeValve, kickstarting a touchdown drive. But watch Britt chip a defender who is trying to get outside to cover Duke Johnson in the flat. If a linebacker follows DeValve, Johnson is probably option No. 2 here, and he's wide open, with Britt in position to block.

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What about effort

We covered the question of Britt’s effort on a sideline pass earlier. It's open to interpretation. It’s not clear what he was supposed to do or if Kizer was even targeting Britt (Higgins was in the area, too). But, as I pointed out, Britt took heat for that.

He also took heat – along with Sammie Coates – for a fourth-down play with 32 seconds left in the game. Most of the reaction on Twitter resembled something like this:

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.@KennyBritt_18 and Sammy Coates are absolutely embarrassing. Gave Kizer zero effort during two score game pic.twitter.com/OOkT3jAGNU — Heart of NFL (@HeartofNFL) September 19, 2017

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Here’s the scene: The Browns faced fourth-and-7 at the Ravens 23-yard line with 32 seconds to play. Britt was lined up near the tight end on the right. Kizer was looking to his left for something to develop, but quickly had to step up to avoid pressure. Britt’s route had him go five yards and turn around on the right. Kizer ended up throwing for Coates while going down, and the ball fell incomplete.

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The television angle wasn't kind to Britt. Above is the overhead, and below is the view from the end zone. Britt jockeys for position, unsure of what Kizer will do before he's quickly dragged down. Britt’s not getting to that throw, and he doesn't start jogging until it hits the ground.

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What it means

Does all this mean Britt is actually playing well? Only the Browns know that for sure. But a closer look seems to show Britt making himself available for his quarterbacks. Who knows, if Kizer sees Britt on deep patterns at the beginning and the end of the game, maybe we’re having a different discussion about the team’s receivers today.

But the reality is that Britt has two catches for 15 yards. And whether it’s him doing something different, or the quarterbacks looking his way more, something clearly needs to change.