BEREA, Ohio -- Corey Coleman was so distraught on the sidelines after his drop in the end zone in Cincinnati, he had to be consoled by Josh Gordon and DeShone Kizer.

"I have to make that play,'' Coleman said Wednesday. "If you saw me on the sideline, it tore me down 'cause you don't get that many opportunities to make plays like that. So when that happens, you've got to make it count."

Coleman, who dropped a perfectly-thrown 29-yard post route in the end zone from Kizer when he was double-covered, said it still eats at him.



"It's not acceptable at all. I take full responsibility for it," he said. "DeShone threw a great ball. I couldn't ask for a better ball than that. I've got to make that play. Even the greats drop balls. It's not an excuse.''

The Browns, who lost 30-16, were trailing 23-6 in the third quarter, and Kizer had marched the Browns from their 20 to the Bengals' 29, where Shon Coleman was flagged for his second holding call to put the Browns in second and 20.

Kizer fired the pass between cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and safety Josh Shaw and right to Coleman. But the ball dribbled right through his hands.

"I just knew it was a touchdown,'' said Coleman, who was in his second game back from a broken hand. "As soon as I came off the [snap], I saw how the safety was playing. I got super excited."

On the sidelines, Coleman had to compose himself.

"I was so shook and shocked about that, because it's not me,'' he said. "And it's just like when anyone does something out of the norm, you're going to be like, 'oh, man, did I really just do that? Did that just happen?'''

Gordon, his fellow former Baylor Bear, rushed to his side.

"When I was down, he was keeping me up, saying positive stuff,'' said Coleman. "You can just tell how much he has grown."

The Browns' 2016 first-round pick, Coleman immediately apologized to Kizer, who's thrown only five TD passes, three to wide receivers.

"I take full responsibility for it. I own up to it,'' said Coleman. "I've got to make that play for me, for the team, for my teammates, for guys who trust in me and for my fans. I told him, 'I'm sorry. I apologize. Keep your head up. You keep on doing you. You're having a great game. I'm going to make that play for you.'"

Coleman acknowledged that "every catch in the NFL is going to be a tough catch. It's the NFL for you, but I've got to make that play."

Hue Jackson's advice was "go catch the next one. ... He gets it. You have to make that play, but he is going to get an opportunity to do it again. When it comes, he has to make that play."

However, "he has to let it go, too. The competitive side, I'm glad that he understands how important it was, but there are going to be more. It would be different if he wasn't going to have any more opportunities to do that.''

Coleman has yet to live up to expectations after missing six games as a rookie last season with a broken hand and eight games this season. He caught only 33 passes for 413 yards and three TDs in 10 games in 2016, and has only 15 catches for 206 yards and a TD this year.

His next chance is Sunday in Los Angeles against the Chargers, where he'll be joined on the field for the first time by Gordon.

"I hope (it means) bringing the team a win,'' he said. "A spark with me and him both being out there, creating plays, catching the ball and getting open. It's going to be hard to double-team one guy, so we'll go out there and see on Sunday.''