In a column for Sports Illustrated‘s Monday Morning Quarterback vertical on Wednesday, Matt Verderame highlighted three plays from Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season, including Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson missing a “wide open” David Njoku.
“[Browns head coach Kevin] Stefanski must have been thrilled once the ball was snapped. New York’s man defense played right into the offensive call, which had tight end David Njoku (No. 85) running underneath a rub route from receiver Jerry Jeudy (No. 3),” Verderame wrote. “For unknown reasons, Watson looked that way, cocked his arm and then … nothing. As you can see, Njoku was wide open from the pick and had an easy first down.”
Njoku was wide open, there’s no debating that. Only it had nothing to do with the screenshots of the play Verderame provided; rather, it was because he was on the sideline in street clothes, still recovering from the high ankle sprain he suffered in the Browns’ Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Nevertheless, Verderame not only highlighted the play under the guise that Njoku was on the field, but the Pro Bowl tight end’s name was also used in the article’s headline, as well as a social media post promoting it.
Update: the story has since been updated to reflect that it was Akins and not Njoku involved in the play.
.@MattVerderame analyzes three big plays from Week 3, including Deshaun Watson missing a wide-open David Njokuhttps://t.co/qTnmSgTrXe
— The MMQB (@theMMQB) September 25, 2024
Mistakes happen and it’s easy to understand why a writer tasked with covering the entire NFL might not be fully up to date on every team’s injury report. And to be fair, the player Verderame was actually referencing — backup tight end Jordan Akins — has a similar build and hairstyle as Njoku’s and it’s not like the jersey numbers are fully distinguishable from the All-22 view.
Still, considering that Njoku is so prominently featured in the article, it would have been worthwhile to double check and make sure that not only was he the player in question, but that he actually played in the game. If nothing else this calls into question Sports Illustrated‘s current editing process, especially considering that this is the same outlet that’s less than a year removed from running a story about the Browns and Baker Mayfield based on nothing else but a fake quote.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.