Browns RB Chubb makes full circle comeback, returns to Pittsburgh for first time since knee injury

Updated Dec. 5, 2024 4:07 p.m. ET

Associated Press

CLEVELAND (AP) — With every game, every carry, Nick Chubb puts a little distance between himself and a moment that changed him.

On Sunday, he'll return to where it happened. The full circle.

More than a year since the Cleveland running back's left knee was obliterated on a trap play near the goal line in Pittsburgh, Chubb will be back in Acrisure Stadium for the first time since suffering an injury that could have ended his career.

Reserved and reticent, Chubb rarely shows emotion, let alone open up about his feelings during interview sessions. However, he said this week that going back to the Steelers' home field had extra significance.

“It’s a divisional game, so for me that’s enough for me to get excited about, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about it, going back to that place where it happened last year,” he said on a Zoom call. "But besides that, I’m always excited to play the Steelers.”

In Week 2 last season, Chubb's knee and career nearly collapsed at the same time.

On what began as a routine inside handoff, Chubb was cutting when his left knee was hit from the side on a low tackle by Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. The damage was extensive: torn ligaments, meniscus and medial capsule tears.

After undergoing two surgeries, Chubb, who injured the same knee in college at Georgia, attacked his rehab and returned to Cleveland's lineup in Week 7. He scored a touchdown in his first game back against Cincinnati on Oct. 20.

Then, two weeks ago, Chubb played against the Steelers for the first time in what became almost storybook.

With falling snow providing a scenic backdrop, Chubb ran inside on a play that looked eerily like the one on which he got hurt, darting two yards for his second TD with 57 seconds left to give the Browns a 24-19 win.

Chubb didn't speak to reporters after the game, perhaps downplaying his comeback so as not to steal the spotlight after the rivalry win.

Whatever the case, his teammates said the performance lifted Chubb and everyone around him.

“I know it means a lot to him. He won’t say it, but it’s true,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. "I’ll say it, because at this time last year we were sick to our stomachs and it hurt to have his family hurting and have to see that.

"For him to come back and be pivotal in this game just speaks to the kind of resilience and the man that he is, and we absolutely love him.”

Chubb feels that warmth everywhere he goes in Cleveland. He's the team's most popular player, his status reflected in the thousands of No. 24 jerseys in the stands each week and the resounding chants of “Chubb! Chubb!” before and after every rush.

He even heard them last year in Pittsburgh while being driven off on a cart following his devastating injury.

And as he gets ready to walk back on to that field, Chubb is overwhelmed by thanks.

“Just going back there and knowing how it was last year, last time I played there, everything that happened and just being grateful that I’m able to run and play football again and move around,” he said. “And I think more just the gratitude aspect of me being back there and being healthy.”

Chubb's inspiring comeback has given the Browns something to embrace in an otherwise disappointing season.

“Nick is the true definition of being a Cleveland Brown,” wide receiver Elijah Moore said. "The city embraces him, and even when I first got traded over here, that’s the first player that I thought of when I thought of the team.

“So to have him back and to respond the way that he’s responding has been nothing but super motivating to all the players. Just a high level of respect. We already had that towards him, but I guess it just raised a whole another bar.”

Chubb turns 29 later this month. The four-time Pro Bowler hasn't had the same burst that made him so dangerous before getting hurt 14 months ago. However, that had to be expected since his offseason priority was healing.

He's rushed for just 243 yards (a 3.0 yard per carry average) and three TDs in six games, and Chubb hasn't been able to break into the secondary on one of those long scoring runs that thrill Browns fans.

Not yet. Maybe not again.

Chubb knows better than anyone that he's not quite himself, and attributed some of that to inactivity.

“I think it’s just time, the rust and just not playing football for a while,” he said. “Maybe that’s the biggest thing.”

So how close is he to being all the way back?

“I have no idea,” he said. “When it happens, you’ll see it.”

NOTES: CB Denzel Ward was named the team's nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. Ward is having his best season on the field, and off it he has supported an effort to have external defibrillators in schools and recreation centers in Ohio. Ward began a foundation years ago in honor of his father, Paul, who died after going into cardiac arrest while working out. ... LT Jedrick Wills Kr. (knee), WR Cedric Tillman (concussion) and DT Maurice Hurst II (ankle) did not practice.

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