CLEVELAND, Ohio — If you’re expecting Browns running back Nick Chubb to be extra emotional facing the Steelers for the first time since he suffered a horrific knee injury against them last season, you might be the only one.
“Nick’s not very emotional in general, so …” Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett said.
“I think he’s so calm about it and so straightforward that you don’t even realize what he came back from,” left guard Joel Bitonio said.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski, one of the few people on Earth who can go toe-to-toe with Chubb when it comes to not showing emotion, kept it short when asked if he thought this game might mean more to Chubb.
“I really don’t,” Stefanski said.
Why?
“He’s focused. He wants to help us win any which way. He wants to do his job,” he added. “I don’t think he gets caught up in much else.”
Perhaps there will be a little more emotion in a few weeks when Chubb returns to the stadium where the knee injury that could have ended his career happened in Week 2 of the 2023 season. The Browns, who host the Steelers on Thursday night, will travel to Acrisure Stadium on Dec. 8, the first time Chubb will play there since his knee crumpled when Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick crashed into it on the second play of the second quarter.
The injury was gruesome enough that the television broadcast declined to show replays. It was the same knee Chubb injured when he was at Georgia. It required two separate surgeries. It took him 13 months to get back on the field.
The injury was so severe and so shocking, it had a ripple effect on his teammates. The postgame locker room in Pittsburgh felt like a funeral. Players wore Chubb T-shirts and jerseys to games. They dedicated their season to him.
Except you wouldn’t be able to fathom all of that if you just asked Chubb about what it means to go against an opponent that could evoke some not-so-fond memories.
“It’s just the same normal game for me,” he said, “pushing the same way and looking forward to going out there and playing against a great team.”
Garrett thinks it could be different when Chubb steps on the field, but he’s not seeing any signs it will be.
“He keeps that same calm and solemn demeanor,” Garrett said. “When he gets out there, it could be different, but right now he’s cool as a cucumber, as he always is.”
Chubb made his return this season against the Bengals on Oct. 20 and scored a touchdown. He’s rushed for 163 yards on 53 carries in his four games back.
In New Orleans on Sunday, he had some Chubb-like moments carrying the football. He rushed 11 times for 50 yards, a 4.5-yard average, and while his second level burst hasn’t quite shown up yet, he was more decisive and powerful.
He played just 22 snaps against the Saints, his lowest total since returning, and Stefanski acknowledged on Monday that part of the reason for the reduction in workload was because of the quick turnaround to Thursday night — not that Chubb would acknowledge a short week would have any impact on him and his return to full health.
“Nothing,” he said when asked what the turnaround meant to him physically.
Chubb and the Browns will face a Steelers team ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per play at 4.05. Over the remainder of the season, the Browns will face four of the top five defenses in that category, including a rematch with Baltimore (No. 1) in the season finale as well as matchups with Kansas City (No. 3) and Denver (No. 4).
Chubb, for his part, has had success against the Steelers, rushing for 717 yards in 10 games, the second-most against any opponent. It includes games of 92, 108 and 113 rushing yards. He was on his way to a potentially legendary performance against them last season before the injury, averaging 6.4 yards per carry on 10 rushes in the game’s first 16 minutes.
Starting quarterback Jameis Winston would welcome a strong night from Chubb as he deals with a Steelers team adept at creating pressure on the quarterback. In his short time with Chubb, he’s seen the type of player and person he is.
“He’s the epitome of a running back, ground and pound running back, and he can do some stuff out of backfield,” Winston said. “He’s just a great man and we got a chance to understand what helped him become that great man with his family and all that. So I’ve been very fortunate to be his teammate.”
Thursday promises to be a night where both teams lean on the ground game. Snow is in the forecast and temperatures will be cold — some might call it running weather.
“It should always be running weather,” Chubb said.
Regardless of the conditions, the opponent or where Chubb is physically in his return from last season’s injury, he has one thing in mind: run the football and do everything he can to help win the game.
“That’s just who I am,” Chubb said. “I mean it’s a football game. I got to go out there and play, so no matter who we’re playing or what we’re up against, I’m always in the same mindset.”
Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com’s Browns reporters.