Nick Chubb still doesn’t have a timeline for returning to the field but the Cleveland Browns star running back is feeling good about his current situation.
Chubb suffered a catastrophic knee injury in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. He had both his ACL and MCL repaired during two separate surgeries. The latest of those came in November.
Chubb admitted that it hasn’t been easy to battle through the second serious knee injury of his career. However, he credited his team for supporting him through the tough times.
“The team did a great job of being there for me,” Chubb said on Wednesday, June 5, in his first conversation with media members since the injury. “I was down mentally for a while. When you get hurt it’s one thing. When you get hurt again and you already know what you have to go through, the entire process, surgery, rehab, it’s a non-stop battle every day. So my team did a great job of being there for me and I was around the building for them. They did a great job, made the playoffs, had a great run.”
Chubb is a four-time Pro Bowler and the franchise’s fourth-leading rusher of all time. Chubb has collected 6,511 yards and 48 touchdowns in 77 career games. He’s averaging 84.6 yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry.
Browns RB Nick Chubb Taking it ‘Day by Day’
Chubb appeared in good spirits but declined to pinpoint when he could return to the field.
“I’m getting better every day, taking it day by day, getting better,” Chubb said. “Yeah, just right now, trying to get stronger.
“I like where I’m at. I’m where I need to be, I would say that. The biggest thing for me is getting better every day.”
Chubb and the Browns agreed to a restructured contract this offseason. The move chopped down Chubb’s base salary of around $12 million and converted much of that into incentives. It lowered Chubb’s cap hit to a manageable $6.275 million.
The Browns praised Chubb and his team for how they handled the negotiations.
“I won’t comment in detail on the contract, other than to say that I think that whenever you go through a situation like that, I think people think it’s easy for a club, an agent, to be adversarial,” Browns GM Andrew Berry said on April 18. “And, you know, with Nick’s situation, I really applaud Nick and then his reps, Todd France and A.J. Stevens, for being really collaborative partners and finding a solution that worked for everybody.”
Chubb is happy he could stay put in Cleveland for at least another season.
“Definitely a blessing,” he said. “They could have just cut me dry and left me hanging, right, but they did a great job. I want to be here in Cleveland — they know that — so we came to a great point.”
Nick Chubb Does Not Believe Steelers’ Hit Was Dirty
The hit that injured Chubb came from Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was also injured on the play. Chubb holds no ill will towards Fitzpatrick and gave his perspective on the hit.
“I don’t think it was a dirty hit at all,” Chubb said. “I’m not blaming (Fitzpatrick). It’s part of the game.”
The Browns added some additional depth to their running back room this offseason. Veterans D’Onta Foreman and Nyheim Hines were both added in free agency. Foreman is expected to play the Kareem Hunt-type role, while Hines is more known for his pass-catching and kick-return abilities.
