Heavy Sports Browns running back Nick Chubb is inching closer to a return.
The Cleveland Browns are not committing to Nick Chubb returning for a Week 6 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles — but he’s getting closer.
Chubb returned to practice last week, opening his 21-day window to be added to the active roster. Both the Browns and Chubb have not been eager to set a firm timeline for his return, which continued on Wednesday when head coach Kevin Stefanski was asked about his star running back’s status.
“I think really with all the guys, and Nick especially, it’s really a day-to-day thing,” Stefanski said. “See how they come out of today. Let’s see how they do Thursday. Not going to rush any decisions.”
Chubb has remained similarly vague about his return timeline.
“I was just hoping to get back at some point,” Chubb said last week. “I never had a date set in mind. Just whenever I felt good and was available to go out there, I was gonna try to go, and that’s right now.”
Chubb suffered a major knee injury in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. He missed the rest of the season and had both his ACL and MCL repaired during two separate surgeries.
There was early optimism about Chubb’s availability for Week 1, but those predictions proved overly optimistic.
Browns’ Offense Needs Spark From Nick Chubb
The Browns’ offense is in desperate need of a spark. Cleveland ranks near the bottom of the league in just about every major offensive category, including rushing with just 96.6 yards per game on the ground. Jerome Ford has carried most of the load for the Browns, registering 250 yards on 48 carries. He’s scored one rushing touchdown.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson (25 carries for 131 yards) and D’Onta Foreman (29 carries for 93 yards) have also pitched in.
Chubb has made a reputation for himself as a reliable and consistent runner. He averages 5.3 yards per carry for his career. That consistent level of production has been missing for the Browns, who are still looking for an identity on the offensive side of the ball.
“It’s just kind of just finding those adjustments, finding those things that we want to do and be perfect at those,” Watson said. “And just make the game simple, don’t try to do anything more than what we seen before or what we are trying to do. We just simplify the game as much as possible so we can go out there, execute and play fast and not put too much thinking into the game.”
Browns Stick With Deshaun Watson at QB
The Browns are not planning on benching Watson, who has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league this season. Watson has passed for just 852 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions this season and has been sacked an NFL-high 26 times.
Watson has not been the only one to blame for the team’s struggles, but he hasn’t been part of the solution either. It’s not what the Browns expected when they signed him to a $230 million full guaranteed deal in 2022 after a blockbuster trade.
There’s been a national outcry for the Browns to bench Watson but the team is not focused on the outside noise.
“I talk to Deshaun every week, every da,” Stefanski said. “I think respectfully, we have to focus on what’s going on inside of our building and not necessarily pay attention to what’s going on outside the building.”
Watson and the Browns have a chance turn things around against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
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
