NFL Media's Oklahoma Drill series presents exclusive, quick-hitting one-on-one interviews with players and coaches from around the league. No nonsense -- just football experiences directly from the source.
David Njoku
Tight end, Cleveland Browns
Born: July 10, 1996
Experience: Two NFL seasons
Interview by Brooke Cersosimo | March 13, 2019
Excited about [Odell Beckham Jr. getting traded to the Browns]. Excited, for sure. Our offense is literally like a powerhouse, you know? We're so versatile on offense. We can have anyone line up anywhere, run a play, and the defense won't know what we're doing. We're excited about that.
Platinum. We literally have an all-star offense [in 2019]. I believe that any of our starters on offense are Pro Bowl-caliber. It's going to be very competitive, as far as who gets the ball, and that's going to push each of us more, knowing that we're competing to get the ball from Baker [Mayfield].
Honestly, just Baker's mentality. His will to win was stronger than us finding a way to lose. So, like, he pushed all of us that extra level, to work that much harder, to get the wins that we got. That was huge for us.
Me and Baker are real close. We talk almost every day, and I was just with him at UCLA, running some routes and catching some balls, and it's a great relationship, and we're going to keep building on this.
[The 0-16 season] showed me who I was. Obviously, coming into work every week, not having a win and getting late into the season still not having a win, It was painful. It showed me that I don't give up, and same with my teammates, of course. We don't give up, and we just keep working. That's what it takes to be champions, is to keep working, no matter what.
It was obviously a huge difference, going from a defeated season to winning seven games. That was a big jump. This upcoming year, we're focused on having another big jump and going all the way. We're excited.
I'm gonna use this quote: "The main focus is to stay focused." We gotta ignore all of this noise that comes with [a big offseason]. Having Odell here is huge for us, but we have to eliminate all that social media stuff that can be a distraction and focus on ball. That's exactly what we're going to do.
Do I feel [like we're the division favorites]? I don't really care, to be honest with you. I'm just ready to play. We're excited for that.
Freddie [Kitchens] is a character, for sure. He's a great coach, and I feel like he's very comical at times, and that's what we need in a coach.
He challenges us more in practice than in games, when we're competing very hard. He challenges us to go the extra mile and make plays in practice, so we can carry it to the game.
They've always been diehard fans, but especially now, more than ever, is a time to rally and take each game one at a time with our fans.
