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'I'm where I need to be': Nick Chubb continues knee rehab; when could Browns RB return?
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- 'I'm where I need to be': Nick Chubb continues knee rehab; when could Browns RB return?
BEREA — Nick Chubb stood in front of the cameras Wednesday like he's done so many times in his Cleveland Browns career. This time, however, was much different than almost all of the others.
This time, it was Chubb speaking for the first time since the catastrophic knee injury he sustained last Sept. 18 against the Pittsburgh Steelers . The Pro Bowl running back seemed in good spirits, though, as he talked after the Browns' next-to-last OTA session of the offseason program.
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"I like where I'm at," Chubb said. "I'm where I need to be. I would say that. The biggest thing for me is just getting better every day."
What remains unclear is when Chubb will be able to return to football activities. He's been running since April, but wouldn't set any sort of timetable on a return.
The Browns have their final OTA on Thursday, then will conduct mandatory minicamp next Tuesday through Thursday. After that, they'll be off until they report for training camp in late July.
Browns running back Nick Chubb carries the ball against the Steelers during the first quarter Sept. 18, 2023, in Pittsburgh.
"I'm not looking too far ahead," Chubb said. "I'm just taking it day by day. It's Wednesday. I have to get back today on Wednesday. That's my whole mindset."
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Right now, Chubb's mindset has been centered around his recovery. However, he's also tried to help out the rest of the Browns running backs, a group that includes Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr. , two of the players who stepped in for him last season.
Chubb has been present around the team this week, even with it being the final one of the voluntary program. Although he hasn't participated in drills, he's been active in the meetings.
"Yeah, it's awesome," running backs coach Duce Staley said. "It starts in the classroom, because he is a leader. I know he's a man of little words, but when you get in that classroom and get out on the field, he's having fun, and that's what we want."
Chubb had not one, but two surgeries to repair the damage done on his right knee when Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick rolled into it while making a tackle with 14:44 remaining in the second quarter of the Browns' Week 2 loss in Pittsburgh. He sustained tears to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), the medial capsule and meniscus.
Fitzpatrick drew some criticism for the play, specifically for going low and rolling into Chubb's knee. That's not the feelings of Chubb, who last spoke to the Steelers safety on the night of the injury.
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"On the field, he came up to me when I was on the ground and he said he didn't mean to do it," Chubb said.
Chubb had his first surgery, which repaired damage to the MCL, the medial capsule and meniscus, on Sept. 29, 11 days after the initial Sept. 18 injury. The second surgery, on Nov. 14, repaired the ACL.
Both surgeries were done at University Hospital. Browns team doctor Dr. James Voos performed the surgery.
"Voos and UH did a great job of tightening me up down there," Chubb said. So I'm definitely following Voos' and (Browns trainer) Joe (Sheehan's) plan and (Browns assistant trainer) Pat Rock's. They're doing a great job of keeping me not so frustrated, but we have a great plan, sticking to it. I'm doing whatever they tell me to do."
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The Browns made a point to dedicate last season to Chubb, who's been the team's heart and soul. He was back in the facility by the middle of November, and even made the trip with the team to Denver and Los Angeles at the end of November and beginning of December.
Although Chubb was at most games over the last half of the season, he made two appearances in particular that resonated most with Browns fans. The first came Nov. 19, five days after his second surgery, when he was introduced to the home crowd just after the starters before a game against the Steelers.
The one that captured the most attention, though, was the Dec. 28 Thursday Night Football game against the New York Jets , the game in which the Browns clinched a playoff berth. Before that game, Chubb was honored as the game's "Dawg Pound Captain," which included smashing a guitar into a pyrotechnics display.
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"It meant a lot," Chubb said. "I told the guys I'm doing my part. We all got to do our part that Thursday night game. I did my part, and the guys did the rest."
Chubb enters next season on the final year of the three-year contract extension he signed in 2021 that carried with it no guaranteed money. He and the Browns re-worked the contract in April, dropping his salary cap number by $9.9 million.
The newly worked deal provides $2.05 million in guarantees for Chubb.
"Yeah, I mean, definitely a blessing," Chubb said. "They could have cut me dry and left me hanging, right? But they did a great job. I want be here, and they know that. So we came to a great point."
The road to recovery was a familiar one for Chubb, who previously suffered three torn ligaments in the same knee while at the University of Georgia during an Oct. 10, 2015, game against the University of Tennessee. The ACL remained intact, but Chubb still needed surgery on the other three ligaments.
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Chubb did not miss a game in either the 2016 or 2017 seasons after the injury at Georgia. The Browns selected him in the second round (No. 35 overall) in the 2018 draft.
"I would say it does help just knowing how to attack it mentally and knowing I might not be at a certain point through the rehab process that I want to be," Chubb said. "But I know just taking it day by day and the weeks add up and the months add up and eventually I'll get to where I want to be."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns' Nick Chubb gives injury update, but not certain of return date
