Nijoku ready to fight after missed block

David Njoku is angry with himself for missing the block that resulted in DeShone Kizer getting knocked out of the game in Detroit with a rib injury, so now he wants to take out his anger on the Jaguars.

Not that Njoku has anything against the Jaguars — they just happen to be next on the Browns’ schedule Nov. 19 at FirstEnergy Stadium

“It pisses me off, man,” the rookie tight end said Nov. 13 in the Browns’ locker room. “I ain’t going to lie to you. Seeing him on the ground like that got me mad, and you can’t really fight in the NFL, so I’ve just got to take it out in how I play.

“You gotta give props to the (Lions). They played really well, smart, too, but someone’s gotta pay. Plain and simple, so we gotta take it out on this next team. That’s how it is.”

Njoku was lined up on the left side and was concentrating on linebacker Jarrad Davis as the Browns faced second-and-11 at the Browns’ 24 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter. Davis bluffed rushing and as he did, cornerback Quandre Diggs blasted by Njoku and hit Kizer helmet-first in Kizer’s rib area just as Kizer threw a pass intended for Ricardo Louis. Njoku bent

at the knees and cringed as though helplessly watching a car accident unfold.

The pass was incomplete. X-rays were negative, so Kizer was able to return with bruised ribs. While he was gone, though for only one third-down play and two Browns offensive series, a 24-24 tie turned into a 38-24 deficit.

Njoku felt so bad that, while riding on one team bus to the airport with Kizer on another, Njoku sent a text to his quarterback apologizing.

“The kid’s a baller,” Kizer said. “He’s going to make the proper adjustments. (The text) started with the missed block to make sure I was all right. It led into a long conversation about where we need to go as a

team and how close we are to getting over that hill.

“He’s back in here (in Berea) watching film before I was even back in here. When you know that a guy has that self-motivation and that drive within him to make that correction on his own and not need a coach or some kind of leader to tell him that, it’s not going to happen again. He’s going to learn from his mistakes, and we’re going to move forward and be that connection we want to be.”

Njoku also said he should have gotten his left foot down in bounds in the end zone on the play before the botched final play of the first half. He caught a pass by Kizer from the 2, falling backward. His right

foot was clearly in, but his left foot landed outside the boundary as he was falling backward.

“I think I should have caught that with two feet in,” Njoku said. “There’s no excuse for that to happen. I should have got my left foot or left toe down. I didn’t, so I got to make up for it next game.”

Coach Hue Jackson said the pass from Kizer should have been thrown toward the back corner instead of the side of the end zone.

That misconnection led to Kizer changing the next play at the line of scrimmage and calling a quarterback sneak. Kizer was stopped for no gain. The clock ran out before the Browns could get off another play.