CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns coach Hue Jackson reiterated Monday that he probably would've benched Kenny Britt during Sunday's 31-7 loss to the Bengals if he had a suitable replacement.

As it was, he had two receivers out with hamstring injuries: Sammie Coates, who was inactive, and Jordan Leslie, who left the game with one in the second quarter.

"I totally agree (he could've been pulled), but we had some guys down,'' said Jackson. "We lost a couple guys. Trust me, our guys know based on performance if you're not getting it done, we'll stick the next guy in there, but you have to have the next guy to stick in there. It is what it is. I get it.''

Jackson is also trying to find the best way to motivate Britt, who was signed to a four-year free agent deal in the offseason worth $32.5 million, including $17 million guaranteed. Through four games this season, he has only eight catches for 121 yards and one TD. What's more, he's caught fewer than 35 percent of his 23 targets, and has dropped four passes, fifth-worst among NFL receivers.

Two of DeShone Kizer's eight interceptions have skipped off Britt's hands, and he had a 29.2 passer rating when targeting Britt against the Bengals, according to profootballfocus.com.

After Britt dropped a pass in the red zone in the opener against the Steelers, Jackson called him out the next day in his press conference, saying he might not start him the following week in Baltimore.

Jackson reverses field

Instead, Jackson had a one-on-one meeting with Britt and challenged him to step it up as the elder statesman of the receiving corps.

Britt, who's struggling to adjust to his new team and to Kizer, responded with only one catch for two yards in the next game, and has continued to struggle. He did make a fine 11-yard TD catch in Indy, but for the most part, it seems like Britt is pressing, and Jackson needs him.

He's the only real experienced receiver on the roster, and Corey Coleman is out at least eight weeks with a broken hand.

"There's a time that you can be really tough on guys and turn away from them, and there's a time you have to try to get the most out of every player on this football team,'' said Jackson. "I have to find different ways to do that. There's more than one way to get a player to respond and do the right thing. Sometimes guys need to take a breather and reassess some things, but you have to have the capability of doing that."

Jackson dismissed the notion that Britt, the Browns' replacement for Terrelle Pryor, has been a total waste.

Britt's game against the Bengals went from bad to worse. He false-started on third down on the opening drive, and then slipped and dropped a pass on third and 10 on the next drive.

That one came after Emmanuel Ogbah strip-sacked Andy Dalton to start the Browns at the Cincy 30, and it proved costly. Rookie kicker Zane Gonzalez pulled a 48-yard field goal wide left.

The backbreaker

But the most egregious error came in the second quarter with the Browns in the red zone and threatening to answer the Bengals' opening touchdown. Kizer's pass to Britt at the 7 went through his hands, glanced off his chest and bounced into the arms of safety Clayton Fejedelem. The Bengals converted the miscue into Dalton's second of four TD passes.

Britt shouldered full blame.

"That was clearly on me,'' he said. "That was definitely clearly on me. Ball came on me faster than I thought it would, and that's something I should have."

A receiver jumping?

He made no excuses for the false start.

"It's kind of hard out there,'' he said. "You know the snap count, but when a guy says 'hut, hut' it's kind of hard especially when you have guys on the other side moving. But that killed us right there because were in a third and 3 and that brought us back and I think we could've gotten the chains moving on that.''

As for the drop on third and 10, he said, "that kind of sucked. I actually knew the ball was coming, I probably got too excited and slipped up.''

Asked if he was pressing because of his early struggles, he said, "You can't go back to the plays in the past. You've just got to move forward.''

Looking for answers

Britt admitted he hasn't been able to explain his sluggish start.

"It's multiple things,'' he said. "We've just got to get back on what we were doing back in OTAs and camp and small things, even going out there and just catching the ball off the JUGS and stuff like that.''

Britt said he didn't hear the loud boos after every mistake.

"No, not at all,'' he said. "If we listen to boos or we get down, it's going to just get worse. We're 0-4 right now. I've been in a season where we went 0-6 and we came back 8-8 and (just) missed the playoffs. Like I said, we're going to get better. Good teams get better in November and December.''

Despite the mistakes, Kizer came back to Britt several times for a total of eight targets. He caught three passes for 52 yards, including a 26-yarder on third and long on the march that ended with the pick.

"He knows the type of player I am regardless of the drops or what's happening,'' said Britt. "He's going to come back and he has confidence in me.''