CLEVELAND — A miserable season for the Browns only got worse Sunday, with head coach Kevin Stefanski confirming running back Nick Chubb suffered a broken foot in Cleveland's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The four-time Pro Bowler came up lame in the third quarter of the 21-7 defeat and did not return. Following the game, Stefanski could not give a definitive timetable for Chubb's return, but the broken foot is likely to end his season.
"I can't tell you how much I respect him as a person, what he means to this football team," a clearly disappointed Stefanski said of Chubb. "He continues to inspire this football team with how he approaches every single day, and I know this is just another obstacle that he will overcome."
Chub has already established himself as one of the greatest rushers in Browns history, but as Stefanski mentioned, the last 15 months have just brought one obstacle after another.
It began during Week 2 of last season, when Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury in Pittsburgh that required multiple surgeries on ligaments that already had to be operated on once in college. Following a lengthy rehab, the 28-year-old returned to action during Week 6 of this season, but has lacked the usual burst that made him such an elite back for so long.
Chubb had nine carries for 41 yards Sunday before being hurt, also losing a fumble and having a pass hit off his fingertips before being intercepted. Assuming his 2024 campaign is over, he will finish with just 332 rushing yards in eight games with a career-low mark of 3.3 yards per carry, along with four total touchdowns.
"It's going from bad to worse, man," Myles Garrett said of Chubb's latest ailment, which comes amid a dreadful 3-11 season for Cleveland. "There's not a more hardworking, just resilient, individual in the locker room, and he just continues to face some adversity like this. And it's just tough to see, because man, he's one of the cornerstones (of this team)."
To add to the obvious sorrow, there's also a chance Sunday could've marked Chubb's last game as a Brown. His contract is up after the season, and given his injury history and relative old age for a running back, many have wondered if the team will decide to move on. It's not a possibility Chubb wants to think about.
"I started here. I'd like to finish here," he told Dan Labbe of 3News media partner Cleveland.com earlier this week. "Cleveland just means a lot to me. Everything we've been through, ups and downs, but I'm proud to be drafted here."
Chubb's 6,843 career rushing yards rank third all time in Browns lore, behind only Hall of Famers Leroy Kelly and Jim Brown.
