The Cleveland Browns have added a new face to their running back rotation ahead of their Week 3 clash against the New York Giants.
The Browns are without Pierre Strong Jr., who was ruled out earlier in the week with a hamstring injury. Pro Bowl back Nick Chubb is also sidelined as he continues to heal up from knee surgery and is not eligible to return until Week 5.
The Browns signed Gary Brightwell to the active roster on Saturday to fill the void.
Brightwell — who comes in at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds — is in his fourth NFL season out of Arizona. Originally selected by the Giants in the sixth round in 2021, Brightwell has appeared in 37 career games. He has rushed for 164 yards on 41 attempts with one touchdown. He’s added 11 receptions for 92 yards.
Brightwell’s debut with the Browns will come against his former team. He appeared in seven games last season with the Giants.
After two weeks, the Browns rank No. 21 in the league with 109.0 rushing yards per game.
D’Onta Foreman Had Large Workload Against Jaguars
D’Onta Foreman didn’t receive any work in the Browns’ Week 1 loss but was busy against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Foreman registered a team-high 14 carries for 42 yards in the win.
“I mean, he’s a good football player. It’s hard when you’ve got a lot of good football players. In that room, we’ve got some talent we feel like,” Browns offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey said on Thursday, September 19. “(Foreman) is physical, he plays fast, he hits the hole hard and there’s going to be a place for his style of play within our system. So we’ll continue to try to get him involved, try to get all those guys involved.”
Jerome Ford is also firmly in the mix and leads the Browns in rushing yards through two weeks. He has 19 carries for 108 yards and 7 receptions for 25 yards.
Overall, the Browns want to play a “cleaner” offensive game this week against the Giants.
“I think we had some good moments, obviously, in the run game, some good moments in the pass game, but we definitely have to play cleaner,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday, September 16. “I will tell you; we were better on first and second down which is a very, very big part of having any production on offense. So, we were better, but we feel like there’s still things that we can do better, certainly, when it comes to the run game.”
Browns RB Nick Chubb Could Miss More Time
Chubb started the season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. He’ll miss at least the first four games of the season, but his absence could extend longer. Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com recently shared that Chubb could be out until midway-mark of the season.
“As far as Nick Chubb is concerned, we haven’t heard anything much. Week 5 might be a little bit soon, I’d expect to see him somehwere around midseason,” Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot said on the “Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show” on Tuesday. “Maybe they’ll get him through the bye (Week 10) and let him come back after that. I think they can get the running game accomplished without Nick. I think the 1-2 punch of Jerome and D’Onta Foreman is going to work as they feel their way through it a bit more.”
The urgency around Chubb’s return might depend on how the Browns’ perform. Cleveland enters Week 3 with a 1-1 record and is a 6.5-point favorite against the Giants.
J.R. DeGroote covers the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com. He graduated from Arizona State and has decades of experience in digital media with previous stops at SBNation and Bleacher Report. He has won multiple state, regional and national honors for sports reporting and photography. More about J.R. DeGroote
