David Njoku on facial burns after posting picture: 'I really should have been blinded'
Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku has spent the past two weeks recovering from awful facial burns while still playing football.
The seven-year veteran was reported to have sustained burns on his face and arms ahead of the Browns' Week 4 game against the Baltimore Ravens. He was designated as questionable on the injury report but wound up playing and accrued six catches on seven targets for a team-high 46 receiving yards.
Njoku reported for that game wearing a mask and prevented any pictures of his face from emerging until he posted a disturbing picture to Instagram on Wednesday, then deleted it. It's unclear at what phase in his recovery the picture was taken.
Two days later, Njoku met with reporters for the first time since the incident, still sporting visible burns on his face. He joked, "never felt better," before discussing the situation. By the sound of it, his injuries could have been even worse:
David Njoku spoke today, said he’s grateful to God to be alive.
Said his eyes were open when the whole thing happened and he’s blessed to have his vision and his breath. #Browns pic.twitter.com/Cc6yxwUeQb— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) October 13, 2023
Njoku's comment when asked how the experience has been:
"Interesting. First and foremost, I give all the glory to God. When it happened, my eyes were open, so I saw everything. I really should have been blinded. Luckily, I'm not, so I give all glory to God."
He explained his decision to share the photo of his burns, saying he wanted to support burn victims, via Sports Illustrated:
“I’ve been getting a lot of messages from other burn victims and nurses that have burn victims, and they were telling me how everybody feels embarrassed to show whatever,” Njoku told reporters. “So I wanted just to come out forth and show myself so everyone feels a little bit better about themselves. End of the day, things heal.”
The Browns' Week 5 bye after the Ravens' game gave Njoku an additional week to recover, but he is still marked as questionable for the team's game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. The Cleveland injury report notes that he did not participate in practice Wednesday or Thursday and was a limited participant Friday.
Njoku is one of the longest-tenured players on the Browns, having joined the team as a first-round pick out of Miami in the 2017 NFL Draft. In seven seasons of catching passes from Deshone Kizer, Baker Mayfield and Deshaun Watson, Njoku has posted 222 catches, 2,250 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns.
