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The Cleveland Browns may be without tight end David Njoku for a while after reports surfaced late on Wednesday that he suffered a broken wrist during the victory of the New York Jets.
Njoku is still considering whether or not to have surgery and is expected to be out for more than a month, according to multiple media reports.
In addition to a concussion, Browns TE David Njoku suffered a wrist injury Monday night that could require surgery, per source. Njoku getting additional medical opinions to find out if surgery is necessary and how long he would be sidelined.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 18, 2019
Njoku was injured on Monday after he went up for a pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield, was flipped and landed on his head after a hit in the first quarter. In addition to injuring his wrist, that hit landed Njoku in the league’s concussion protocol.
The Browns have not released any official information about Njoku’s condition, other than to list him on Wednesday’s injury report, but head coach Freddie Kitchens admitted that Njoku being out is a problem, according to clevelandbrowns.com:
“David is a good player so definitely him being limited right now or whatever presents problems for us. This game in the National Football League is about attrition so you have to deal with it on your side and other teams do, as well. We will get the next guy in there and make sure he knows what to do. When somebody goes down, that is another opportunity for someone else so we will see how it goes.”
If Njoku is out for a month, then it would appear that the earliest he would be back is the October 27 game against the New England Patriots. That’s probably an overly optimistic timetable if surgery is required, so it could be until sometime in November before he makes it back onto the field.
With Njoku sidelined the options at tight end are not very encouraging. Demetrius Harris, who the Browns picked up as a free agent in the offseaon, would possibly be the “next guy in there.” But he only has one reception for four yards on the season, and only had 57 receptions in five years with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Behind Harris is Pharaoh Brown and Ricky Seals-Jones, neither of whom strikes much fear into the hearts of opposing defenses, although Seals-Jones did have 34 receptions last season with the Arizona Cardinals.
Njoku, who is in his third season with the Browns, had four receptions and a touchdown this season before being injured. For his career he has 92 receptions for 1,062 yards and nine touchdowns.