PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Browns expect that Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb has been lost for the season.
The team fears Chubb suffered multiple ligament tears to his left knee Monday night and they expect that to be confirmed on Tuesday a league source told 92.3 The Fan.
“You feel for the person,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He's a great football player as we know, but he's an even better person.”
Chubb was carted off the field with a significant knee injury early in the second quarter of Monday night’s 26-22 loss after Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick went right into his left leg while making a tackle during a five-yard run inside the five.
“Speechless,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “Really. I mean, the guy works harder than anybody I know, does everything right. Just real, real, real s**ty for him. At first, I didn't even know he was down. I saw the Pittsburgh guy down and I turned around and he was still down. Just heartbroken for him.”
Fitzpatrick later left the game with a chest injury and did not return.
The loss of Chubb, who many players said is the heart and soul of the team, was a devastating blow to the locker room.
“Tough,” quarterback Deshaun Watson, who paused at length to gather the right words following the game, said. “I just sent on my prayers to him at that moment. It was tough once we saw the replay and exactly what happened. It just a lot of flashbacks to the previous one he had in college. Yeah, it was tough.”
It was the same knee Chubb injured at Georgia that required reconstructive surgery.
“He means everything,” tight end David Njoku said. “It's tough having one of our leaders go down like that. It's tough.”
Chubb, who was taken to a local hospital as a precaution but released, was making his way back to Cleveland while the Browns held their postgame availability. He was immediately ruled out for the remainder of the game after the injury which occurred at the 14:26 mark of the second quarter.
“It f***ing hurts,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “I mean, that's our brother. That's my brother and I've been together for a long time. I mean, it's to blow for the whole team and we don't want his injury to be in vain and we got to push on. That's what he wants us to do and if he had any choice in the matter, that's what he would do.”
ESPN did not show a replay of the gruesome injury but the crowd at Acrisure Stadium let out an audible gasp when it was shown on the video board.
“He means a lot more than just football to us,” running back Jerome Ford, who rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries and caught a three-yard touchdown, said. “Well to me, he's like a big brother. And we all look up and we wish we could give what he gives to the team and have his work ethic.”
The outpouring of support from LeBron James to the NFL’s biggest stars for Chubb flooded social media immediately following the injury to no one’s surprise.
“Not at all,” Ford said. “The way he worked, I mean, to me the best running back in NFL, so people recognize game. And I feel like people recognizing that and showing support to him. It just shows what kind of person he is.”
Chubb was well on his way to his 31st career 100-yard game. He had 64 yards on 10 carries before the injury.
The Browns, namely Watson, are now tasked with picking up the pieces from an awful loss while carrying on without Chubb.
“I know he don't have the ‘C’ on his jersey, but he's a captain, he's a leader,” Watson said. “He's the definition of this team, of this city, of this organization and we got a some holes to fill for him.”