Nick Chubb won’t be on the field on Sunday but the Cleveland Browns star is inching closer to a return.
Chubb is on the Physically Unable to Perform list and is eligible to return for Week 5. If he’s activated, the Browns will have a 21-day window to add him to the active roster. The odds of that happening are looking good, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
“If he’s activated this week, it means he’s expected to be ready to be on the 53 within the next three weeks, and there seems to be some sentiment for that happening,” Cabot said on Saturday. “Chubb has been making excellent progress behind the scenes, and appears ready to return to the field within the next three weeks.”
Chubb suffered a significant knee injury in Week 2 last season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He missed the rest of the season and had both his ACL and MCL repaired during two separate surgeries.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski gave an open-ended answer on if Chubb will be ready to return next week.
“We’ll see when we get to next week. He’s doing well,” Stefanski said.
Browns Struggling to Find Offense Without Nick Chubb
The Browns’ offense has not been fun to watch during the team’s 1-2 start. Inconsistency and The Browns’ ground game has been inconsistent, with the team ranking 24th in the NFL, averaging just 95.7 rushing yards per game. Jerome Ford and D’Onta Foreman have taken on the bulk of the work but have yet to find a steady rhythm.
Ford leads the charge with 145 yards on 29 carries, but Cleveland’s rushing attack is struggling overall, managing only 3.9 yards per carry, one of the lowest marks in the league.
When healthy, Chubb is one of the best in the game. He has collected 6,511 yards and 48 touchdowns in 77 career games — all with the Browns. He’s averaging 84.6 yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry. That consistency is missing with Chubb on the sideline.
Deshaun Watson Not Interested in Being ‘Runner’
A line of thinking was that more designed runs for quarterback Deshaun Watson could help get the offense on track. However, Watson — who has struggled throwing the ball this season — is not interested.
“I’m not going in there to ask them for more designed runs. … If I don’t have to run, I’m not going to run,” Watson said Wednesday, via ESPN. “I’m not trying to take any hits. … I’m not a running quarterback, in a sense. I can make things happen, but I’m not trying to run.
“I’m not a running back. It’s not my specialty. They signed me to throw the ball, make decisions and be a quarterback, not a runner.”
Watson has been sacked an NFL-high 16 times this season. His offensive line has been a large part of that, although he hasn’t helped his cause by trying to extend plays and hanging on to the ball too long. He’s run the ball 14 times this season for 85 yards and one touchdown. Watson rushed for 1,677 yards over four seasons with the Houston Texans prior to arriving in Cleveland.
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
