BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb seem to share everything these days.
On Sunday’s it’s carries. During the week it’s the podium.
“They say we’re better together,” Hunt joked with Chubb by his side Wednesday morning when asked if this was going to be a new thing for them every week when meeting with reporters.
The goal is to share more victories.
“I feel like the best is yet to come for the whole team,” Hunt said. “We got some guys that are hungry to win. That's the biggest thing. We gotta listen to everybody talk about how bad the Browns are going to be this year and stuff like that. We just let it go in one ear and out the other.”
The Browns dynamic duo shares a nickname too – CHUNT, given them by fans who chant it at home games when calling for them to get the ball.
“Whatever they want to call us,” Hunt said with a big smile. “But that’s Nick, I’m Kareem as you already know.”
CHUNT combined for 213 combined scrimmage yards with 187 of those coming on the ground in Charlotte making for a fun film session with position coach Stump Mitchell.
“I mean, it’s exciting,” Hunt said. “The film sessions are hilarious because we get a good kick out of it and joke about things and stuff like that but it’s nice to be able to watch film and see some of the stuff we do even, I see some crazy stuff Nick does on tape that I really can’t see on the sidelines, but other than that it’s pretty fun.”
Chubb is all kinds of crazy good with the football in his hands. He ripped off 141 yards on the ground with 112 of those coming after contact in Sunday’s 26-24 win over the Panthers, ending a 17-year Week 1 winless streak.
“That's part of our offense,” Chubb said. “Everybody knows we're a run-first team. It's not a secret and that's what we pride ourselves on. The O-line does a great job upfront. After that, it's up to me and Kareem to break tackles and get the extra dirty yards. I think it's something we both do well.”
Hunt scored both touchdowns for the Browns.
The first on a wide open 1-yard toss from quarterback Jacoby Brissett and the other on a beautifully blocked 24-yard run through the middle of the offensive line.
“I think Kareem brings a lot of energy to the team, a lot of intensity and I feed off of that,” Chubb said. “When Kareem’s in there, he’s running the ball hard and it gets me going, so I enjoy playing with him.”
CHUNT saw plenty of snaps together on the field creating mismatches and generating yards.
“I really think it is a week-to-week proposition,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “I think there are times when it makes sense and there are other times when you do want to keep those guys fresh. If they are both playing at a high level, whether they are on the field together or not, it takes a back seat to them playing at a high level and doing things that give the defense difficulty.”
Own worst critic – The Browns are coming off a win and a day in which Christian McCaffrey was limited to just 57 scrimmage yards and a score on 14 touches, but linebacker Anthony Walker was in no mood to smell the roses Wednesday.
Two blown coverages defensively that led to 14 points, including a 75-yard touchdown with just over six minutes to play that put the Panthers back in the game were still on his mind.
“It’s not good enough,” Walker said. “We talk about being an elite defense and part of that is not giving the offense anything, making them earn everything and we thought we gave them a couple plays that they didn’t earn, that we kind of gifted them and it’s not okay so we’ve got a long way to go.”
As former Browns coach Butch Davis would say, outside of three plays – passes from Baker Mayfield to Robbie Anderson for a 75-yard TD, a 50-yard completion to Ian Thomas and a 21-yarder to McCaffery – Cleveland only allowed 115 yards of net offense.
“We want to kind of suffocate a team and put any energy that they have away,” Walker said, “and we gave them life and that’s why they were able to be in the game so long.”
Day off – Receiver Amari Cooper wasn’t on the practice field during the portion of it open to reporters Wednesday, but deep breaths.
Cooper was simply given the day off to rest.
Tough call – Rookie running back Jerome Ford being active over D’Ernest Johnson Sunday at Carolina raised some eyebrows, but Stefanski offered a reasonable explanation Wednesday as to why that was.
“Kicking game, kick return,” Stefanski said. “D’Ernest, as you know, we really, really like D’Ernest. There will be times where D’Ernest is going to play, play a lot and help us win, but it just was not last week.”
Planning ahead – Wednesday’s practice wasn’t the typical workload for the Browns.
With a short week awaiting them next week – the Steelers are here next Thursday night – Stefanski wants to make sure they don’t get burned out early.
“[Wednesday’s] practice will kind of reflect that,” Stefanski said. “Not going to be a full Wednesday, just keeping next Thursday in mind, but back to a normal Thursday, Friday.”
Injury report – DNP: WR Michael Woods II (illness), WR Amari Cooper (rest); LIMITED: RT Jack Conklin (knee); FULL: OT Chris Hubbard (elbow), DE Isaiah Thomas (hand)
Up next – Practice Thursday