You’ve got to feel for Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb. In the Monday Night Football showdown vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2, Chubb was hoping to get the offense going with a powerful run in the red zone. However, in the blink of an eye, his season is now over.
On this particular play, Chubb was fighting for extra yards, but he was hit hard by star Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. In horrifying fashion, Chubb’s knee took the brunt of the hit and he was on the ground in a ton of pain. His teammates tried to help him up, but Chubb knew from the start that this was a serious injury.
He was then carted off the field and the look on his face told the whole story. Shortly after the MNF contest, head coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t waste any time in saying that his star playmaker won’t suit up again in 2023. Now, the only hope is that Chubb can rehab his injured knee and potentially get back on the field next season. However, this could keep him off the field even longer.
Coach Kevin Stefanski confirms that Nick Chubb is done for the season with a significant knee injury. Awful. https://t.co/AiKhJ3kxsR
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 19, 2023
Kevin Stefanski confirmed that Nick Chubb is out for the season with a serious knee injury
“Nick’s got a very significant knee injury,” Stefanski told the media when discussing Chubb’s injury against the Steelers in primetime. “You feel for the person. He’s a great football player as we know, but he’s an even better person. We will support him every step of the way.”
The mood around the locker room was quite somber. It was one thing to suffer a loss on the road against a divisional rival, but also seeing Chubb go down with his injury clearly had a negative impact on the rest of the team. When healthy, Chubb is one of the best running backs in the NFL, there’s no doubt about that.
However, this offense is completely different for the Browns now that Chubb will be sidelined for the rest of the campaign. There’s now going to be even more pressure on star quarterback Deshaun Watson to deliver for the AFC north side, but fans were frustrated with his play against Pittsburgh on Monday night. Multiple costly turnovers from Watson haunted the Browns in the narrow defeat.
Before suffering his heartbreaking injury, Chubb carried the ball 10 times for 64 yards. Him averaging 6.4 yards per carry was impressive to see, especially against the Steelers front seven. Whenever Chubb had the ball in his hands, he was ready to create magic for Cleveland. Now, though, Cleveland is going to have to try and somehow replace his incredible production.
Throughout his career for the Browns, Chubb has rushed for 6,511 yards and 48 touchdowns. In his six seasons with the Browns, Chubb earned Pro Bowl honors in four of those campaigns, highlighted by his career-year in 2022. In ’22, Chubb posted a career-high 1,525 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s a true superstar and seeing him go down in this fashion sucks for fans as a whole, not just the Cleveland faithful.
