Two weeks after his devastating knee injury during Monday Night Football, Browns running back Nick Chubb’s future is uncertain.
Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto said initial word from the team was that the injury wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
“So, we're kind of waiting, then of this report comes out. ‘Oh, it's not that bad. It's just the MCL, which isn't even your main ligament, the ACL is your main ligament. And he should be 6 to 8 months, you know, they’ll fix it,” Pluto said.
After Chubb underwent surgery on Sept. 29 to repair a torn meniscus and MCL, the team learned he’ll need a second surgery “in the coming months” to repair his ACL. Chubb also had a severe injury to the same knee while playing college football for Georgia.
“My heart was breaking for this guy because he worked so hard to come back from that first injury and he's been just such a model citizen. I mean, he did a football camp at my high school, Cleveland Benedictine, and he's done stuff like that that people don't even know about around the community,” Pluto said.
Pluto said it’s going to be a long road to recovery for Chubb. The Browns said he’s expected to be able to return to play at some point in the 2024 season.
“It could be a year and a half or more till we see exactly how he is,” Pluto said.
Pluto said on the field Chubb’s presence was missed in the team’s 28-3 loss to Baltimore on Oct. 1, in which quarterback Deshaun Watson also didn’t play due to a sore shoulder.
“Since Chubb has been hurt, the running backs Jerome Ford and then Kareem Hunt --What have they been getting from them? Nothing great. Nothing even mediocre,” Pluto said.
Pluto said the team has a lot to figure out in the bye week before facing the 4-0 San Francisco 49ers.
“Can they get Deshaun Watson’s shoulder healthy? If you don’t have Nick Chubb and you don't have Deshaun Watson, you just you have no chance. And secondly, you have to figure out, do they have to change their blocking schemes to help their runners? I don't know the technical stuff, but they're going to have to pass the ball more. So that's why I think this story actually got kind of lost on some of the other Browns drama with Deshaun Watson. This is a devastating blow to this franchise losing Nick Chubb,” Pluto said.
