Tight ends coach Drew Petzing (9.17.21)
On if he has noticed significant changes that show TE David Njoku is in a better place mentally this year than last, given Njoku has shared that recently:
“I have not seen a big change. One of the things that I noticed from the day that I got here a year and half or two years go is his work ethic, how seriously he takes the game and how passionate he is about playing and playing the position. I have not seen a change in that regard. I think he obviously is playing at a high level right now. I am sure that in the moment affects his mood a little bit, which is great. In the building, he has been awesome pretty much the whole time.”
On if Njoku is improving on consistency:
“Yeah, I think that is the big goal for every NFL player as they come into the league. It is a big adjustment coming from the college game and just the nature of the people who you are playing and the talent level that is on the field with you and that the understanding of one good game or two good games does not make a season and you have to go out and do it every week against really good players at a high level. That is something we always stress in our room, and it is a key to having a good career in this league is being able to be consistent and be the same guy day in and day out and every Sunday. I think I have seen that from him lately. It has been great.”
On the Browns using three TE sets against the Chiefs and why WR Anthony Schwartz is a good fit as the solo WR in the formation:
“For the initial question, when you have three guys like we do – like we have talked about all throughout the training camp and through the season – they all have different things that they do well. It makes us dynamic and hard to defend. I love having those guys on the field. Obviously, they bring something to our offense in a lot of different ways so we feel like it really allows us to attack the defense in any way we see fit. That is kind of the quick answer to that one. With our receiver room – obviously, not being in the room every day in the meetings – it is such a good group that you could put any of those guys out there, whether it is Anthony, (WR) Jarvis (Landry), (WR) Odell (Beckham Jr.) or really anyone in that room. We always feel like that is such a good room, along with our room, that it is just one more guy who they have to defend.”
On if the three TE set is so dangerous because all three Browns TEs are capable of catching the ball and making plays while also being able to block in the running game:
“Yeah, they are match-up guys in both regards. We feel like we can pack in the formation, we can pack in the formation to throw the ball and we can spread it out and do both. You really can’t clue in as a defense and say, ‘Hey, we are going to add another linebacker to the defense or add another D lineman or get big’ because then we spread you out. In the same token, if you try to get small or out-speed us in that group, we feel like we can get big and really pound the ball. It kind of gives us the ability to do both, depending on what they feel like they are trying to take away.”
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