'We just got a little glimpse': David Njoku ready for encore performance for Browns

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The best season to date of David Njoku's NFL career also involved maybe the most bizarre incident of his life.

Two days before the Browns were to play the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4 last season, Njoku was involved in an accident involving a firepit . The incident led to burns on his face, hands and arms.

What it didn't do is cause Njoku to miss any time. He arrived at the stadium on game day and persevered through the pain to catch six passes for 46 yards while playing 48 offensive snaps in the Browns' loss.

"Let me first say that the accident that you're talking about," Njoku said following Monday's training camp practice at The Greenbrier. "It was an accident, but I'm very glad it happened. I feel like it changed my perspective immensely, in terms of just what really matters in life and how far the human body can go."

Njoku's season seemed to take off after the accident. He had 71 of his 81 catches, 772 of his 882 yards and all six of his touchdowns after surviving the near-death experience in late September.

It turned into, in Njoku's seventh season in the NFL, the best season of his career to date, He earned his first Pro Bowl berth, although his mind kept wandering to where the Browns weren't at that point.

"I had the Pro Bowl last year, but I was still kind of p***** just being there, just not practicing for the Super Bowl, you know what I mean," Njoku said. "So everyone I believe on this team inspires to be in that position of playing for a championship and that's what championship football is all about.”

Njoku's career season played a major role in the Browns' 11-6 regular season and return to the playoffs for the second time in four seasons. They would lose to the Houston Texans in the AFC wild card round.

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That was Njoku's seventh season in the league. It marked a turning point in his development from the unproven 20-year-old first-round pick out of the University of Miami in 2017 into what the Browns saw him becoming once that potential became reality.

“Yeah, I think people forget David was 20 years old when we drafted him," general manager Andrew Berry said Monday. "And if you think about, I don’t know, maybe all of you guys were very, very mature 20-year-olds, I was not always. That was not always the case with me. And you think about now, he’s, what, going into year seven or eight. He’s a father now. He’s been through the ups and downs, and I think oftentimes in our lives and careers, almost what I was talking about earlier, the hard times, they really have us grow and learn the most."

Those battles through adversity — be it the major adversities such as the firepit incident or relative minor ones like losing a football game — are what Njoku credits for helping him make that leap. The question for him is about the next step.

Sure, year seven was a breakout year for him. In some ways, it was the continuation of the previous season, where he had shown signs of breaking through before multiple injuries at the midpoint of the season prevented that from happening, although he was still able to post 58 catches for 628 yards and four touchdowns.

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Njoku was looking to build off that season last year when he arrived at The Greenbrier for training camp. He's doing the same this season, although he wouldn't classify last season as the end-all, be-all.

"I think it's coming every year," Njoku said. "I feel like last year wasn't necessarily my big season. I feel like we just got a little glimpse, but hopefully, like I said, God willing, we can put it all together from Week 1 to week whenever you get what I'm saying."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'We just got a little glimpse': David Njoku ready for encore performance for Browns