WATCH: Browns TE David Njoku joins Deshaun Watson’s podcast to talk toughness

Njoku talked about how bad some injuries actually are

Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku went to Los Angeles this past week to get some practice in with quarterback Deshaun Watson, who continues to work his way back after shoulder surgery.

This is important because the two haven’t been able to get on the same page on the field, and we saw after Watson’s injury just how valuable Njoku can be to the Browns offense.

While appearing on Watson’s podcast QB Unplugged on Lockerverse, Njoku discussed injuries in the NFL. He said that fans and media only know a small fraction of the injuries and pain the players experience.

He pointed out how fans calling out players for being injured doesn’t make sense when they don’t know what the players routinely play through. The Browns dealt with a ton of injuries last season, and players found a way to fight through them and still win 11 games.

The NFL draft is just around the corner as the offseason rages on toward the 2024 season.

Browns TE David Njoku responds to silly suggestion he could be a cap casualty

Just like with Nick Chubb the Browns aren’t cutting David Njoku

With free agency drawing closer and closer analysts continue to predict how the offseason will play out. Recently on a PFF podcast talking about how to fix the Cleveland Browns, it was suggested that tight end David Njoku could be a prime candidate to be cut.

Of course, that doesn’t make much sense, especially when you realize he just restructured his contract last year to create cap relief. The Browns are not cutting their star players because of the cap number. Browns general manager Andrew Berry is great at cap manipulation, and suggesting anything different just isn’t factual.

And now the star tight end has responded to the suggestion on Twitter by telling Adam Rank of NFL Network (who predicted a horrible 2023 season) to come get his little brother. Of course, it’s all in good fun but the chief himself is pointing out how silly these rumors are that the Browns will cut their best players because of Deshaun Watson’s contract.

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LOOK: Browns players soaking in the rays at the Pro Bowl

Here are the best shots from the Pro Bowl, where five Browns players represented the city of Cleveland.

Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, David Njoku, Wyatt Teller, and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah represented the Cleveland Browns at the Pro Bowl this weekend.

While the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs prepare for the Super Bowl, 30 other teams sent representatives to the Pro Bowl, capping off stellar seasons for those players. The Browns sent five this year, with wide receiver Amari Cooper and offensive guard Joel Bitonio opting to decline the event to recover from a season of injuries.

This was, however, the first Pro Bowl for Njoku, who is not as accustomed to the event as the five-timer Garrett.

One day, it would be nice to see the Browns have nobody represented at the Pro Bowl because they are preparing for the Super Bowl. For now, however, we get to celebrate players having a great time at the Pro Bowl that they earned after a hard-fought season.

Take a look at all of the shots of these Browns players enjoying their time at the Pro Bowl.

Browns TE David Njoku is fed up with the ‘Cleveland is Cleveland’ comments

Micah Parsons tried to chirp at Browns tight end David Njoku at the Pro Bowl, but he was having none of it.

Tight end David Njoku is tired of the “same old Browns” remarks, and he let Micah Parsons know about it at the Pro Bowl.

Despite four years of stability in Cleveland, including two playoff appearances, they have yet to shake the reputation they built over the last two decades beforehand. They have heard it from former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Chase Claypool, more recently from Cincinnati Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase, and now Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons tried to serve it up to Njoku.

Playing Madden 24 during one of the events at the Pro Bowl, Parsons attempted to trash-talk Njoku, who was playing for the AFC squad. However, Njoku has had enough of the “Cleveland is Cleveland” remarks that get echoed throughout the league.

Njoku then let Parsons know that Cleveland is no different from Dallas as both players are sitting on the sofa playing Madden at the Pro Bowl and not preparing for the Super Bowl.

You can see the full exchange between Njoku and Parsons here:

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Evan Engram replacing Travis Kelce in 2024 Pro Bowl Games

Evan Engram will join Josh Allen and Ross Matiscik on the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster.

Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram was added to the AFC roster for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games as a replacement for the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, the xxx announced Monday.

Engram, 29, recorded 114 receptions, 963 yards, and four touchdowns during the 2023 regular season. It was the second most catches in a single season ever recorded by a tight end, just two behind the record of 116 receptions set by Zach Ertz in 2018.

So it was a relative surprise when Engram was left off the Pro Bowl rosters in the first place. Kelce and the Cleveland Browns’ David Njoku received the two AFC spots instead, but the former is headed to Super Bowl LVIII and won’t participate in the Pro Bowl Games.

Engram, who earned Pro Bowl honors during his 2020 season with the New York Giants, will join pass rusher Josh Allen and long snapper Ross Matiscik as the three Jaguars represented at the event. It’s the most for the franchise since the 2019 season when Jacksonville had four Pro Bowlers.

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Browns TE David Njoku raves about his relationship with Kevin Stefanski

The relationship between Njoku and Stefanski has grown

While appearing on the Up and Adams Show with Kay Adams, Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku talked about his relationship with head coach Kevin Stefanski.

He discussed how that relationship is compared to how it was when he arrived. Njoku talked about how he wanted to be traded in 2020 when Stefanski came in and that since that moment his relationship with the head coach is a complete 180.

He talked about how during their exit interview earlier this week the two joked about the trade request. Njoku continued saying the trade request wasn’t necessary but since that moment he and Stefanski have grown close the past couple of seasons.

During the interview, he also talked about how hungry the team is and that falling short makes them want success even more. Njoku broke out this season and was the king of yards after catch, if the Browns want to reach their ultimate goal the veteran tight end will need to play a big role in 2024.

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3 bold predictions as Browns head to Houston for Wild Card matchup vs. Texans

Can the Browns get it done on the road vs. the Texans?

The Cleveland Browns, led by quarterback Joe Flacco and defensive end Myles Garrett, are back in the NFL Playoffs in one of the wildest seasons this fanbase has ever seen as they get set for a rematch against the Houston Texans. This team has so much fight in them and truly embodies the next-man-up

mantra and the “Go 1-0 each week” that Kevin Stefanski has been preaching. Now they head to Houston, who won the AFC South in a thriller last weekend. The Texans will have rookie CJ Stroud back who did not play against the Browns a couple of weeks ago due to injury.

Cleveland will have wide receiver Amari Cooper back after missing the final two regular season games with an injury after setting a Browns single-game receiving yardage record with 265 yards against these Texans. The Browns are the more talented team but it’s the postseason and you have got to play your best game if you want to advance, here are my bold predictions for Saturday.

Tunnel Vision – Final

Tunnel Vision – Huddle awards!

SUNDAY SALUTES
Quarterbacks Pass-Rush TD
 Josh Allen 359-67 2
 Carson Wentz 163-56 3
 Dak Prescott 279-0 4
 Derek Carr 264-6 4
 Nick Mullens 396-8 2
Running Backs Yards TD
James Conner 27-150
4-54
1
Breece Hall 37-178
2-12
1
Jonathan Taylor 30-188
2-8
1
Bijan Robinson 11-28
7-103
1
Joe Mixon  14-111
1-6
2
Wide Receivers Yards TD
Justin Jefferson 12-192 1
CeeDee Lamb 13-98 2
Nico Collins 9-195 1
Amon-Ra St. Brown 7-144 1
Dontayvion Wicks 6-61 2
Tight Ends Yards TD
Evan Engram 10-79 1
Dalton Kincaid 7-84 0
Sam LaPorta 5-29 1
Will Dissly 3-46 1
Donald Parham 5-83 0
Placekickers XP FG
Cameron Dicker 0 4
Blake Grupe 6 2
Mason Crosby 3 2
Daniel Carlson 3 2
Cairo Santos 0 3
Defense Sack – TO TD
Jets 7-2 0
Buccaneers 3-2 0
Giants 3-1 0
Cowboys 4-3 0
Chiefs 0 1

Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts

Players with 3+ missed games

Quarterbacks
Joe Burrow
Kirk Cousins
Kyler Murray
Deshaun Watson
Jimmy Garoppolo
Justin Herbert
Daniel Jones
Aaron Rodgers

Running Backs
Nick Chubb
J.K. Dobbins
Saquon Barkley
David Montgomery
Josh Jacobs
Austin Ekeler
James Conner
Kyren Williams
Rhamondre Stevenson
Khalil Herbert
De’Von Achane
Jonathon Taylor
Aaron Jones
Cam Akers

Wide Receivers
Justin Jefferson
Diontae Johnson
Marquise Brown
DJ Chark
Robert Woods
Kadarius Toney
Cooper Kupp
Christian Kirk
Tee Higgins
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Tank Dell
Michael Thomas
Christian Watson
Mike Williams

Tight Ends
Mark Andrews
T.J. Hockenson
Dallas Goedert
Hunter Henry
Darren Waller
Pat Freiermuth

The Huddle Awards

Best Player
QB –
Josh Allen
RB –
Christian McCaffrey
WR –
CeeDee Lamb
TE –
Travis Kelce
PK – Brandon Aubrey
DEF –
Ravens

Best Rookie
QB – C.J. Stroud
RB –
Jahmyr Gibbs
WR –
Puka Nacua
TE –
Sam LaPorta

Best Free Agent
QB –
C.J. Stroud: Actual QB10
RB –
Kyren Williams: Actual RB6
WR –
Puka Nacua: Actual WR5
TE –
Trey McBride: Actual TE8

Best Game
QB – 45.05 pts Josh Allen -Week 12 (rush 9-81-2 + pass 339-2)
RB –
51.3 pts De’Von Achane Week 3 (rush 18-203-2 + rec. 4-30-2)
WR –
52.2 pts Ja’Marr Chase Week 5 (rec. 15-192-3)
TE –
35.9 pts Travis Kelce Week 7 (rec. 12-179-1)

Best Fantasy Draft Pick
QB –
Brock Purdy: ADP QB20 – Actual QB5
RB –
Raheem Mostert: ADP RB40 – Actual RB5
WR –
Mike Evans: ADP WR31 – actual WR7
TE –
Sam LaPorta: ADP TE18 – Actual TE1

Worst Fantasy Draft Pick
QB – Aaron Rodgers: ADP QB 12, Actual QB72
RB –
Nick Chubb: ADP RB5, Actual RB88
WR – Justin Jefferson: ADP WR1, Actual WR31
TE – 
Darren Waller: ADP TE5, Actual TE24

Huddle player of the year

Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Christian McCaffrey  – I had five teams make the playoffs in a large contest and the only league champion that didn’t have McCaffrey was me in one league. CeeDee Lamb delivered the goods for the last month to be sure and was also well represented in all fantasy playoffs, but McCaffrey remained healthy and was the top running back by a huge margin. He took the last game off and still outscored all other running backs by over 100 fantasy points.

Salute!

2023-2024 NFL Playoffs

Saturday
Browns vs. Texans, 3:30 PM
Dolphins vs. Chiefs, 7:00 PM

Sunday
Steelers vs. Bills, 12:00 PM
Packers vs. Cowboys, 3:30 PM
Rams vs. Lions, 7:00 PM

Monday
Eagles vs. Buccaneers, 7:00 PM

all times Central Time

Drama 101 – Somebody has to laugh, somebody has to cry

Comedy Yards TDs Tragedy Yards TDs
QB Carson Wentz 163-56 3 QB Patrick Mahomes 0 0
RB Kendre Miller 13-73
1-6
1 RB Christian McCaffrey 0 0
RB Tyjae Spears 3-25
3-41
2 RB Raheem Mostert 0 0
WR Quez Watkins 8-93 1 WR Keenan Allen 0 0
WR David Bell 4-68 2 WR Cooper Kupp 0 0
WR A.T. Perry 3-53 2 WR DeVonta Smith 0 0
TE Will Dissly 3-46 1 TE Travis Kelce 0 0
PK Blake Grupe   6 XP   2 FG PK Matt Wright 0
Huddle Fantasy Points = 158 Huddle Fantasy Points = 0

Now get back to work… and thanks for everything!

5 Browns named to Pro Bowl with 6 alternates on deck

The Browns, headlined by Myles Garrett and David Njoku, had five players named to the Pro Bowl with six alternates names as well!

The Cleveland Browns are sitting at 11-5 on the season, have put themselves in a position to rest their starters in the last game of the season after already locking down the fifth seed in the AFC, and multiple players are heading to the Pro Bowl as a result. Defensive end Myles Garrett is the obvious one, but even tight end David Njoku gets his first-career nod.

All in all, five Browns players were named to the Pro Bowl, with a massive six more named as alternates. Surprisingly, however, the offensive side of the football had more names to the event than the defensive side of the ball did. It’s hard to complain though, as the NFL finally overtook the popularity contest (for the most part) and added players who truly deserved the honor.

Here is the full list of Pro Bowlers from the Browns, including the six that were named as alternates.

Brown TE David Njoku has been one of the league leaders since Week 14

It’s been a great stretch of games for Njoku

With the success he has had this season for the Cleveland Browns, tight end David Njoku could find himself in his first Pro Bowl after the regular season is done. He has been a massive problem for defenses after the catch with his ability to accelerate quickly and power through arm tackles.

Ever since Joe Flacco’s arrival giving the team more consistent quarterback play he has helped Njoku take it to another level. Since Flacco’s second start in Week 14, Njoku has a total of 373 yards receiving which is good for second of any player in the NFL.

It has all come together for the talented tight end this year as he has been a mismatch problem with his rare combination of size and athletic ability. It has been a crazy ride for the Browns this year but with the most talented players on this roster on the younger side this team is set up to be good for years to come.

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