CLEVELAND — New York Jets running back Isaiah Crowell punctuated his return to Cleveland with two first-half touchdowns and celebrated with a distasteful gesture that resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
After scoring his second touchdown, a 2-yard run with 7:59 left in the second quarter, Crowell used the football to wipe his rear end — a 15-yard penalty.
This figured to be an emotional night for Crowell, who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Browns. He left as a free agent in March, signing with the Jets.
In three weeks, Crowell already has two multiple-touchdown games. On the first play of the second quarter Thursday, he gave the Jets a 7-0 lead with a 7-yard scoring run. He celebrated that touchdown by firing a perfect spiral deep into the end-zone seats.
Interestingly, Crowell had two touchdowns in the Browns’ last win, 635 days ago — Dec. 24, 2016.
Minutes later, the Jets were flagged again for unsporstsmanlike conduct. After a third-down incompletion, cornerback Trumaine Johnson shoved the ball into the belly of Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.