XFL's Josh Gordon Held to 0 Catches as Ben DiNucci, Sea Dragons Win vs. Guardians
Quarterback Ben DiNucci led the Seattle Sea Dragons to a 26-19 road win against the Orlando Guardians on Saturday afternoon in Week 6 of the XFL season, but he did it without any contributions from wide receiver Josh Gordon.
The former Cleveland Browns star was held without a catch Saturday, and he was targeted only twice by DiNucci.
Gordon, who led the NFL with 1,646 receiving yards in 2013 and was named both a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro, got off to a hot start this season before seemingly falling out of favor.
From Weeks 1 through 4, Gordon had 18 receptions for 282 yards and three touchdowns, making him one of the XFL's most productive wideouts.
He had just two grabs for 15 yards in last week's 21-14 win over the Houston Roughnecks, though, and appeared to get on DiNucci's bad side.
As seen at the 12-minute mark of the following video, DiNucci took exception to Gordon stopping in the middle of a go route, resulting in an interception:
After the events of last week's game, Greg Parks of XFLBoard.com noted that this week's depth chart saw Gordon get dropped from the No. 1 receiver role to a backup:
That demotion held true during the win over Orlando, as DiNucci leaned heavily on his other pass-catchers and rarely looked in Gordon's direction.
Four Sea Dragons receivers were targeted at least seven times in the game, and Gordon finished tied for fifth on the team in targets with two.
Blake Jackson led the way with six receptions for 79 yards and one touchdown, while Juwan Green had five grabs for 50 yards and a score, Jahcour Pearson made four catches for 18 yards and Jordan Veasy reeled in two passes for 22 yards.
DiNucci, who previously played for the Dallas Cowboys, had an up-and-down game, but finished with 177 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 18-of-35 passing, while also rushing for 43 yards.
With the win, the Sea Dragons have now reeled off four consecutive victories, putting them at 4-2 on the season.
Meanwhile, the Guardians continued to scuffle and remain the XFL's only winless team at 0-6.
The Sea Dragons will look to continue their ascent next week when they go on the road to face the Arlington Renegades, while the Guardians will once again go for their first win when they host the undefeated D.C. Defenders.
