BEREA, Ohio — The Browns are gearing up for physical AFC North football against their rivals as they face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. It’s a game that will come with plenty of emotion—both from the rivalry itself and from the storylines surrounding it.
That includes running back Nick Chubb’s return to the field where he sustained the season-ending knee injury last year.
"It's a divisional game, so for me, that's enough for me to get excited about, but I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about it, going back to that place where it happened last year. But besides that, I'm always excited to play the Steelers," Chubb said on Wednesday.
Chubb missed the remainder of the 2023 season after having surgeries on his MCL and ACL following his Week 2 injury in Pittsburgh. He returned to game action in Week 7 this season but is still working to get back to form.
That, he said, is all about time.
"I think it's just time, just not being out there for a while, the rust and just not playing football for a while. Maybe that's the biggest thing," Chubb said about what he needed to feel like he was back to where he needed to be production-wise.
In any given game, Chubb is just ready to play football. He wants to do whatever the team needs from him. On Monday against the Denver Broncos, Chubb was sidelined for much of the second quarter and only played 29 snaps. That doesn't bother him.
"Whatever they need me to do, I'm ready to do no matter what it is or what it takes," he said.
Chubb is focused more on the game plan and what he's being asked to do in it than he is about the emotions of a game. That holds true this week as well. Still, it's set to be an emotional game, like it or not, and Chubb's teammates are ready to support him through it.
"We got his back no matter what. At the end of the day, football is football, wherever you play it at. And I think he has that mindset too," said wide receiver Elijah Moore.
In his first meeting with the Steelers since the injury, the Thursday night snow globe game that saw the Browns walk away with a win, Chubb found the end zone twice. It's uncertain if he'll be able to replicate that in Pittsburgh or perhaps have even more production.
But no matter how much Chubb is used on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, the Browns fan-favorite running back can’t help but feel gratitude about the return to Pittsburgh.
Gratitude to still be playing the game he loves.
"Just going back there and knowing how I was last year, last time I played there, everything that happened and just being grateful that I'm able to run and play and play football again and move around," Chubb said. "And I think more just the gratitude aspect of me being back there and being healthy."
