D'Ernest Johnson's big Week 7 performance has won him a special piece of league-wide recognition.
Johnson, who made his first NFL start Thursday and rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown, was voted the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week for Week 7. His performance Thursday night was the best of any rusher during the week, and he drew praise across the league as more and more people learned of his incredible path to cracking a roster spot in 2019 and patiently waiting until the starting spotlight was on him.
Johnson is the first Browns rusher to win Ground NFL Player of the Week this season. His competition was New England's Damien Harris and Indianapolis' Johnathan Taylor.
Additionally, Johnson became the third Browns running back this season to produce 100-or-more scrimmage yards (168) in a game, joining RBs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, who was also withheld from Week 7 with a calf injury. So far, the Browns are the only team in the league to have three running backs accomplish this feat.
By winning the FedEx AIR/GROUND NFL Player of the Week Award, FedEx will work with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the largest organization exclusively representing the Black College community, to make a $2,000 donation in Joe Burrow and D'Ernest Johnson's names to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Over the course of the entire season, select HBCUs will receive grants totaling more than $100,000 to support needs-based scholarships through the 2022-2023 school year.
