Kenny Britt: I let myself down the last six years

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/06/08/kenny-britt-i-let-myself-down-the-last-six-years/

Kenny Britt: I let myself down the last six years
Posted by Josh Alper on June 8, 2015

AP

In April, Rams coach Jeff Fisher said that the team was expecting more from wide receiver Kenny Britt after re-signing him to a two-year deal this offseason.

Britt’s comfortable with that expectation. After years with the Titans that were marked as much or more by off-field trouble and injuries than they were by sparkling play on the field, Britt caught 48 passes for 748 yards in his most productive season since 2010. That wasn’t enough to make him feel like he lived up to his potential, however.

“There’s definitely more I feel like I can give because there’s more that I want to give and there’s more that I want to do in my career,” Britt said, via ESPN.com. “I’m going into my seventh year, I feel I let myself down the last six years. I have a chip on my shoulder this year and I’ve got a lot to prove.”

Britt praised new Rams quarterback Nick Foles’s ability to throw the deep ball last week and more precision there would go a long way toward Britt reaching new heights. The Rams connected on 10-of-25 throws of 20 or more yards to Britt last season and even a marginal increase in that accuracy would bear a lot of fruit for the St. Louis offense.
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Kenny Britt,Pacman,etc. these players leave TN and then start to play better for other teams. Britt had one game against Philly in 2010 where he had like 240 yards receiving including an 80 yarder. He really looked like he was gonna be the next dominant WR like a Megatron. He got hurt early in 2011 season and was lost for the year and was never the same.
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Of all the underachievers the Titans have had since the team arrived in Tennessee 18 years ago, Britt is the biggest. … Should have been a huge star. (And his knee injury isn’t what did him in all those years.)
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Missed opportunities for all involved. Tenn could’ve used a stud WR and Britt had the chance to be THAT guy. Fisher’s hoping that he’s matured and ready, but Britt is walking that fine line next to strike 3
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So what’s worse, a player admitting he could have played harder and provided more production over his six year NFL career, or a team resigning that player and expecting a different result? The definition of insanity is…..
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Weird. The Rams may have the best QB in the NFC West. Who woulda thought.
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It tells you how much talent this guy has that he’s been given 6 years in the league for basically doing nothing more than having a ton of potential. Most guys who have done as little as he has are out of the league in 2 to 4.
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Better late than never.

If he is seeing reasonable QB play from Napoleon Dynamite he has the potential to be a true #1 in the league, something that the Rams haven’t had since the Greatest Show on Turf.

 

[LumberTubs]

Napoleon Dynamite

 

[RaminExile]

Napoleon Dynamite

It never gets old does it!

Edit:

As long as this is the outcome though I don't care....

 

[Dxmissile]

BRITT numbers would have been a lot better last year. Some of the throws made him stop, some throws were terrible and I saw him killing Richard Sherman and Patrick Peterson to only have the QB not even look his way.. QB play really hurt his numbers last year and I think Fisher and Co saw that as well

 

[Robocop]

BRITT numbers would have been a lot better last year. Some of the throws made him stop, some throws were terrible and I saw him killing Richard Sherman and Patrick Peterson to only have the QB not even look his way.. QB play really hurt his numbers last year and I think Fisher and Co saw that as well

same with the other receivers. I'm sick of analysts shitting on the Rams not having any good receivers. obviously that was true years prior but not true the last two years. somebody has to actually throw the damn ball to them and accurately. do ppl think Sam was just throwing to himself in 2013 when he was like 14-4 or something before he went down.

 

[Alan]

Midway into last year I was pretty sure we already had a #1 type WR on our roster and I expect that to become apparent the rest of the NFL this year. Whether that's Britt, Quick or both remains to be seen but I expect big things from both of them. As much as I've liked many of the WRs that were available for us to pick in the last two years I'm glad they listened to me LOL and refrained.

 

[RamBill]

Kenny Britt wants to move past six-year 'letdown'
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/170080/kenny-britt-wants-to-move-past-six-year-letdown

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- St. Louis Rams wide receiver Kenny Britt led the team in receiving yards in 2014 and became the first Rams wideout to surpass 700 receiving yards since Torry Holt in 2008.

It was a solid, if unspectacular first go with the Rams, but it was at least better than what the team has gotten from any of its pass catchers since Holt's departure. It also wasn't the first time that Britt had ventured into the 50-catch, 700-yard range.

To hear Britt tell it, however, it was just the latest in a series of disappointing seasons.

"There’s definitely more I feel like I can give because there’s more that I want to give and there’s more that I want to do in my career," Britt said. "I’m going into my seventh year, I feel I let myself down the last six years. I have a chip on my shoulder this year and I’ve got a lot to prove."

Last season was Britt's first in St. Louis after spending his first five years with the Tennessee Titans but it wasn't his first playing for coach Jeff Fisher. Fisher is the coach who drafted Britt in Tennessee and the coach under whom Britt has undoubtedly had his most success in the league.

That's why, when Britt hit free agency after his one-year, "prove it" contract with the Rams expired, he had no designs on going anywhere else. Even though Britt didn't sign a new two-year deal with the Rams until a few days into free agency, he said he never really considered any outside offers despite some interest.

"Not in my mind, not in my family’s mind or my wife’s mind," Britt said. "I know where I wanted to be all along coming into the season."

And with good reason. Although Britt sounds wholly unsatisfied by his production to this point in his career, his drop off when he hasn't played for a Fisher-led team versus what he has done with Fisher at the helm is striking.

Britt's healthiest and most productive years have come under Fisher's guidance. In three seasons with Fisher, Britt averaged 741.3 yards, 44 receptions and five touchdowns while missing four of a possible 48 games. In three seasons without Fisher, Britt averaged 324.7 yards, 24.3 catches and 2.3 touchdowns while missing 19 of a possible 48 games.

Fisher has a reputation as a player's coach and knows when to ask for more and when to allow for breaks. That helps keep players healthy. Near the end of last season, Britt was one of the veterans Fisher allowed to take a day or two off in practice each week so he could be ready to go on Sundays.

According to Britt, that's just part of the appeal of returning to Fisher and St. Louis.

"There’s definitely something to that," Britt said. "Fisher is a coach that lets you be yourself on the field and off the field. He treats you like a man instead of a child. He lets the coaches coach and he lets the players do the plays on the field and off the field. That’s something you can be comfortable is being yourself instead of being uptight and watching what you have to say or what you have to do. I’m definitely more relaxed. And when you’re more relaxed, you play better."

The question then becomes just how much better Britt can be. The reality is that the Rams offense probably isn't going to offer a chance for Britt or any of the team's pass catchers to put up the type of numbers that other top receivers around the league do in more pass-happy offenses.

Last week, Britt offered glowing praise for new quarterback Nick Foles and made it clear that the receivers are building a strong rapport with him. But even if that takes shape, if the Rams' running game takes off how they envision, there simply might not be much leeway for Britt to improve upon his 2014 production.

One way it could happen is to have Foles connect on more deep balls. Rams passers targeted Britt on throws traveling 20 or more yards in the air 25 times in 2014 but only connected 10 times. On a number of those incompletions, quarterbacks Shaun Hill and Austin Davis simply misfired with an open Britt running down the field.

Although Britt is entering his seventh season in the league, he's only 26, which means there could be more room for growth. He also seems to be as healthy as he has been in years, playing in all 16 games last year for the first time since his rookie season in 2009.

"I think every year I have more," Britt said. "I always say I have more. I don’t want to leave this season saying I left something out there on the field."

 

[ram007]

Talk and more Talk

 

[Mackeyser]

Both Britt and Quick took advantage of that Seattle secondary and our QBs almost never saw it.

Was FRUSTRATING...to say the least.

 

[Rmfnlt]

I'm glad he likes Coach... and I'm glad Coach makes him comfortable.

But, sometimes, comfortable is not a good thing. Sometimes, being uncomfortable raises your performance (I know this to be true in business).

If comfortable helps Kenny Britt to continue to achieve more with the Rams... and if that results in a playoff berth, I'm all for comfortable.

 

[RamBill]

Britt Back, Striving to Improve
By Myles Simmons

View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Britt-Back-Striving-to-Improve/af1a22ea-0e5b-4570-ad07-785cbe677c89


While it may have been a surprise to some, wide receiver Kenny Britt emerged as one of the Rams’ offensive leaders in 2014 -- both on the field and in the locker room. He finished the season first on the team with 748 yards receiving, and came in second with 48 receptions. But during OTAs last week, the 26-year-old wideout said he actually feels he’s let himself down in his first six NFL seasons.

“There’s definitely more I can give, because there’s more I want to give, and there’s more that I want to do in my career,” Britt said. “I think every year that I’ve been through, I had more. At the end of the season, I always said, ‘I had more.’ And I don’t want to leave this season saying I left something out there on the field, or I just missed out by just a step or two.”

Britt will be pursuing that goal in a Rams uniform, after re-signing with the club on a two-year deal as an unrestricted free agent in March. The wide receiver said there was no doubt in his mind that he would remain with St. Louis.

“I knew where I wanted to be all along coming out of the season,” he said.

That’s a sentiment echoed by his teammates, as fellow wideout Brian Quick said “It means a lot” to have Britt back.

“His energy, what he brings to the team -- we need him,” Quick said. “He just gives everybody a boost. And then what he brings to the field, of course, everybody can see. But as a person and as an individual, he lightens everybody up.”

A significant factor for Britt’s energy and leadership ability comes from his comfort level under head coach Jeff Fisher. Between the Titans and the Rams, Britt has had his most productive seasons under Fisher, which the wideout says is no coincidence.

“Fisher is a guy who will let you be yourself in the locker room, on the field, and off the field. He treats you like a man instead of a child,” Britt said. “Something that you want to be comfortable with is being yourself instead of being up tight and watching what you have to say and what you have to do.”

And according to Britt, that comfort level translates to his on-field performance.

“When you’re more relaxed, you play better and it’s second nature instead of thinking, ‘OK, I have to watch myself around this person, or that person,’” he said. “I can just be myself.”

With that in mind, the wide receiver said he’s already established a connection with new quarterback Nick Foles. Britt said he was surprised by the trade, but the chemistry between the QB and WR has been strong since the first day of the offseason program.

“He’s got a great deep ball. He puts it on the money every time,” Britt said. “We’ve had about a month and a half with him so far, and he can throw every pass in the book, and every route in the tree. So we’re real excited.”

And so as Britt helps lead the offense to the 2015 season, he’ll be working to make sure that once the year ends, his tank is on E.

“I have a chip on my shoulder this year,” Britt said, “and I’ve got a lot to prove.”

 

[Ramhusker]

I feel good about Britt this year. I think he may finally be getting it. And that could be huge for our O! After the bye week, we may have a pretty good O attack in place. By then, I'd hope the OL is gelling, Gurley is on the field 100%, and Foles is comfy in this new O scheme. Britt could then be the X factor that carries us to the promised land. Whew, this cool aid is pretty tasty this time of year!

 

[ram007]

I feel good about Britt this year. I think he may finally be getting it. And that could be huge for our O! After the bye week, we may have a pretty good O attack in place. By then, I'd hope the OL is gelling, Gurley is on the field 100%, and Foles is comfy in this new O scheme. Britt could then be the X factor that carries us to the promised land. Whew, this cool aid is pretty tasty this time of year!

How many NFL players get their act together in their 7th year?

 

[Ram Quixote]

How many NFL players get their act together in their 7th year?

How many players suffer season-ending injuries just as they're coming into their own? And then take a couple years to get back? That was Britt's career track.

Let's face it. Britt was immature when he came to the NFL. He seems to have put that behind him, to the point of regretting the lost years.

 

[Rams43]

Why are some fretting about our WR and TE receiving corps?

When we've had backups throwing to them for 25 straight games, I mean.

I feel good about these guys now that a legitimate QB is behind Center.

I think that our passing game is gonna be balanced and damned effective this season.

 

[Ramhusker]

How many NFL players get their act together in their 7th year?

Probably a lot. If they are not good enough to play in the NFL, they never see year 7. Britt didn't do bad last year. I think. once he got another chance in the NFL from the Rams, the light came on a bit. Now, I think he may have matured enough to let that light shine. I'm excited about the potential of the situation.

 

[snackdaddy]

I always felt Britt has the ability to be a big play, pro bowl caliber receiver. Question is, what held him back? The quarterbacks? Or himself?

 

[Mojo Ram]

Talk and more Talk

 

[lockdnram21]

Why are some fretting about our WR and TE receiving corps?

When we've had backups throwing to them for 25 straight games, I mean.

I feel good about these guys now that a legitimate QB is behind Center.

I think that our passing game is gonna be balanced and damned effective this season.

Everything hinges on the o line. These young guys gotta give Foles time

 

[RamzFanz]

How many NFL players get their act together in their 7th year?

Chris Carter?

Irving Fryar?

Evan Mathis?

Tim Brown?

James Harrison?

James Farrior?

Warner took 5 and that only because Green went down and included him walking into perhaps the best offense ever.

The thing is, most players that don't break out in their rookie contract get lost. It's a rare thing for someone like Britt to have this shot. It's definitely a put up or shut up year for him to ever become more than he has been though.

If the Rams got two 1,000 plus yards and 8+ TD seasons out of him, he might get a big contract somewhere, but time is definitely short.