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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Josh Gordon made the most of his catches in the team’s 41-27 loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Gordon caught two of the passes thrown his way on Sunday and both of the receptions went for touchdowns. He finished the day with a team-leading 82 yards receiving. Only Giants rookie Reuben Randle had as many receiving yards as Gordon on the day.

“I think it was something I needed to get done for myself, but I really have my mind set on team goals and aspirations and really just battling and trying to get a win,” Gordon said following the loss. “When I contribute to a win is when I’ll consider it a breakout game.”

Gordon hauled in a 62-yard touchdown reception from first-year quarterback Brandon Weeden and extended the team’s lead to 14-0 over the Giants with 10:03 remaining in the first quarter.

On second-and-five from their own 38-yard line, the Browns utilized a play fake to running back Trent Richardson and then, Weeden found Gordon behind the defenders for the touchdown. Gordon started the play in the left slot, ran past the coverage, caught the pass at the 15 and ran the rest of the way for the score.

“He needed that and offensively, we needed that,” Weeden said of Gordon’s first touchdown. “I liked that play all week and I thought it had a chance. I circled that one on my play sheet, one that I was hoping we would call and we dialed it up. We executed it kind of how we dialed it up and it’s always nice when it happens. That was part of the fast start. We just weren’t able to build on that.

“We knew kind of what coverage we were going to get. It was all about that strong side safety. Jordan Cameron ran a little corner route on him and it was kind of all on him. It mismatches Josh Gordon, who can fly, against a linebacker. We dialed it up and you love when those happen, when they’re perfect.”

Gordon caught a 20-yard touchdown -- his second of the game and season -- on a go-route at the 3:56 mark of the fourth quarter in Sunday’s game. Gordon’s reception cut the Browns’ deficit to 14 points at 41-27.

Gordon’s most prolific game in a Browns uniform came just three days after offensive coordinator Brad Childress said that the first-year wide receiver had his “best practice as a professional” on Wednesday.

His success on the field came at a time when the Browns were without the services of veteran Mohamed Massaquoi and rookie Travis Benjamin. Both receivers missed the week of practice and were deactivated for Sunday’s game with hamstring injuries.

“At practice, you go in and you might mess up a couple times, but you look to the sidelines and see that nobody is available to come in for you, so you still have to step up, continue to fight and battle hard each rep,” Gordon said. “That’s really where it clicked in. No matter what, you’ve got to keep going hard to the best of your ability and it definitely helps.”