CLEVELAND — David Njoku had the kind of day Sunday the Browns and their fans have been waiting to see from the tight end since he was taken in the first round of the 2017 draft.

It had nothing to do with the total catches or number of yards he accumulated. It was all about the number of times Njoku found the end zone in the Browns' 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Twice.

It may not seem like much. However, in 93 previous regular-season or playoff games, Njoku had never scored two times in a game.

That changed Sunday. Njoku, for his part, could not have been more unimpressed — at least outwardly — by the accomplishment.

“It was a great win, but we have to go back and watch the tape and correct some mistakes for sure,” Njoku said. “It wasn’t pretty. The job’s done so we have to get ready for next week.”

Call it a more mature Njoku, who is still just 27 years old as he plays in his seventh NFL season. It's not a fully formed version of him, but there's signs of progress toward that end.

On Friday, Njoku talked openly about trying to find a more team-centric version of himself.

"Honestly, over my career, I think a lot about me individually, but this year, just with everything going on, I feel like as people may know, I took a bigger leadership role and I don't really think about me no more," Njoku said on Friday. "It's December football, nobody's feeling amazing, and it's up to us to come together and figure it out, and that's what we got to do.

"So my thoughts on a day-to-day basis isn't really more so about me individually. It's more so on what I can do to help everybody else."

Three days later, Njoku lived out those words. In the process, though, he also helped achieve a personal accomplishment as well.

The two touchdowns were part of a day on which quarterback Joe Flacco targeted Njoku eight times, with the tight end catching six passes for 91 yards. The yards were a season high for the tight end, and his second-highest total of his career.

On both of his touchdowns, Njoku was running wide open. The Jaguars essentially had a blown coverage on the first touchdown, a 34-yard catch to give the Browns a 7-0 lead 3:21 into the game.

On the second one, Njoku ran a short crossing pattern similar to what he ran in the third quarter of a loss at the Denver Broncos two weeks ago. This time, instead of dropping the pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson after beating the defenders, he brought in Flacco's pass and ran 30 yards to the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

"You do a little play-action, you get guys to kind of get drawn up a little bit, and Dave is an awesome guy to have catch those passes," Flacco said. "That is his strength — get him the ball while he's moving down the field and he's a tough tackle. You can see his speed. I don't know what he ran or anything, but you can see his speed and strength. Obviously when he gets the ball in those types of situations he's pretty special."

For Njoku, what's special is the fact the Browns find themselves 8-5 and firmly in the AFC playoff picture with four games remaining. They hold down the top wild card spot in the AFC as the No. 5 seed through Sunday night's games.

Njoku, whose rookie season concluded with the Browns 0-16, wasn't thinking big picture after Sunday's game. He was instead thinking about next Sunday, when the Chicago Bears come to Cleveland.

“Now is not the time for us to reminisce or reflect," Njoku said. "We still have a job to do. We’re going to watch the tape, correct the mistakes and get ready for next week.”

Another week, another run of injuries for the Cleveland Browns

The Browns haven't had too many weeks when they've managed to get through the game without losing a player or three to injuries. Sunday was no different.

An offensive line that was already down both starting tackles with left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. on injured reserve and right tackle Dawand Jones out Sunday with a knee injury lost center Ethan Pocic to a stinger on the second play of their second offensive possession. Nick Harris came on to play the rest of the game in Pocic's place.

"I mean, the injury bug has been brutal, but Nick Harris, I mean, the guy works his butt off, obviously he's playing fullback for us right now and backup center, and he came out and played a good game from what I can tell," All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio said. "James Hudson did not know till Friday or Saturday if he was going to play or not (for Jones), and he had to come out there and fight and fight, and it's just guys have been fighting all year.

"And so it's something we appreciate, and it's a credit to them and our coaches and everybody really just stepping up."

It wasn't just on the offensive line. Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott was lost to a concussion, safety Grant Delpit — who had just agreed to a contract extension over the weekend — left with a groin injury and safety Juan Thornhill was ruled out after warmups with a calf injury.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said tests would be done on all of the injured. He had nothing further to add.

Cleveland Browns win the takeaway battle

The Browns had struggled all season with the turnover margin. Nine times over the first 12 games, they had more giveaways than takeaways.

On Sunday, they flipped the script for just the third time this season. They finished plus-1 after turning it over three times compared to four by the Jaguars.

The Browns are now 3-0 when they win the turnover battle. The other two times came in Week 7 against the Indianapolis Colts and Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: David Njoku please more by Browns win, not first 2-TD game: Takeaways