David Njoku ruled out for Cleveland Browns against Houston Texans
BEREA – Tight end David Njoku will not play for the Browns when they travel to Houston on Sunday to face the Texans.
Njoku was officially ruled out by the team on Friday afternoon due to a knee injury he sustained during last Sunday’s overtime win over Tampa Bay. He did not practice all week.
It’ll be the third game out of the last five Njoku will have missed due to an injury. He missed two games − Week 8 against Cincinnati and Week 10 against Miami − due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in Week 7 against Baltimore.
Njoku made arguably the catch of the season against the Buccaneers. He pulled in a 12-yard, one-handed touchdown catch with 32 seconds remaining in regulation to help force overtime.
For the season, Njoku is third on the Browns in both receptions (41) and receiving yards (464), and second in receiving touchdowns with two. He had five catches on seven targets for 29 yards against Tampa Bay.
With Njoku out, that once again puts the onus on Harrison Bryant and Pharaoh Brown to pick up the slack for the tight end position. Bryant has 23 catches for 179 yards and a score this season, while Brown has four catches for 34 yards
Cornerbacks Greg Newsome II, A.J. Green both back on the field
The Browns will return cornerbacks Greg Newsome II and A.J. Green after both were in the concussion protocol for some length of time. Both have been on the field for all three practices this week.
Newsome sustained a concussion in practice on Nov. 18, two days before the Browns played Buffalo in Detroit. He had missed the last two games.
Green left last Sunday’s game in the first half and was evaluated for a concussion. While he was put in the protocol, he was at least a limited participant in all three practices this week, including a full participant on Thursday and Friday.
Cornerback Denzel Ward, who did not practice on Thursday due to hamstring and ankle issues, was back on the practice field on Friday.
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