Monday Night Football in Week 2 was a disaster for the Cleveland Browns. Not only did they lose a close game to the Pittsburgh Steelers 26-22, but their already struggling offense lost its star player.
Running back Nick Chubb was injured in the second quarter of the game, suffering a gruesome knee injury. The injury was so bad that they would not show replays of it on television as Chubb took a hit from Steelers’ safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Chubb had been producing at his normal level before getting hurt, taking 10 carries for 64 yards as he routinely gashed the Steelers’ defense. Unfortunately for the Browns, it is going to be a long time before we see Chubb back on the field.
He will assuredly be missing the remainder of the 2023 season and his long-term outlook is bleak as well. Sports surgeon Dr. David Abbasi offered up his expertise on the injury. In his opinion, this could be a career-threatening injury.
“This is a serious injury and it will need reconstructive surgery. He will definitely be out the rest of this year. Next year is in question, as well. And, so is his career.
“You can see he gets hit on his knee. That is his knee dislocating out. His knee popped out of place. The knee ligaments I’m referring to here consist of the ACL, the PCL, the MCL, and the LCL. I would not be surprised if at least three, if not all four of these have torn.”
Everyone is different, so it is tough to diagnose someone without running the tests or doing the surgery on the person. But, a professional can at least provide an educated hypothesis of what occurred based on what they saw and none of it is good for Chubb.
Another reason this injury is so concerning is because it is the same knee that Chubb suffered a devastating injury to in 2015. He was able to return to form from that one and the Browns are hoping that he can do it once again.
The Browns have already moved to bolster their backfield, re-signing Kareem Hunt, who has remained a free agent all offseason. He will join Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong in the backfield as the trio will attempt the near impossible of replicating the production of Chubb.
