Nick Chubb working out at Browns training camp, slowly preparing for his return

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — About an hour after the Cleveland Browns concluded their training camp practice on Friday, running back Nick Chubb was seen running sprints on one of the Greenbrier Resort practice fields.

Two members of the team’s medical staff, one recording a video with his phone, watched closely. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was watching, too, from a chair adjacent to the field. Chubb went through a handful of sprints and finished his workout by carrying a ball through cones in what’s a pretty standard agility drill.

He is not the standard running back, and this is anything but a standard path back to the field after Chubb tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his left knee last September. He had two surgeries to repair the injuries, and he spent the winter and spring beginning to work his way back. Unsurprisingly, Chubb was placed on the active-physically unable to perform list by the Browns at the start of camp, a designation that allows the team to hold him out for at least the first month of the regular season, if necessary.

All involved — and all of the rest of us watching and tracking — have been aware that Chubb would have a long road back, one that might extend past September. The Browns have made clear they want Chubb back, but no one from the team has put either a percentage or a timeline on what will be a highly anticipated return. Chubb has done his entire rehab program in the Browns’ training facility. He was spotted on the field as a spectator for the end of the offseason program in June.

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The Browns are just two practices into their five-week training camp. Chubb has spent the early part of both working on a side field, where a member of the team’s training staff guides Chubb and a group of other players through timed exercises. It’s standard, keep-the-blood-flowing kind of stuff, some on a mat and some on an exercise bike. Chubb’s post-practice workout Friday was the first real activity any outsiders have seen. Reporters who watched from near the practice field were not permitted to video Chubb running.

His sprints were 40 yards, though on at least one he appeared to slow down a little early. He did not wear any kind of brace or wrap on his knee. Was he running full speed? It looked like it, but it’s hard to say for sure. In fact, it’s impossible to say if he’s dealing with any restrictions or how often he’s going through these kinds of workouts.

Chubb loves football. He does not love talking to reporters. When he did, in early June, he said he was focused on improvement and not on any specific timeline. He said his full focus shifted to thinking about making a comeback as soon as he was allowed to start running again in April.

“I’m where I need to be,” he said.

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A less-than-full but fair way to sum up and evaluate Friday’s workout would be that it’s impressive to see the work Chubb has done — and he’s certainly pushing himself to get back. Combining the pre-camp social media video of Chubb squatting an inhuman amount of weight with visual evidence that he’s running and cutting gives the impression that something close to a full return is coming.

“I’d say Nick is progressing exactly where he should be,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “You know Nick. I know Nick. I mean, he’s pushing it. He’s doing everything that (the team’s medical staff is) asking him to do, and as much as he can do more than that, within reason, within what the medical side wants him to do.

“It’s good to have him out here, period. We always love when Nick’s out there at practice. He’s somebody that, even when he’s not in the game or play, he can make a big impact on it. But I wouldn’t say him being out there is an indication of when he’s back. He’ll be back when he’s back.”

Since 2018, Chubb has been a low-maintenance, highly reliable superstar who’s earned the respect of the entire Cleveland organization. Almost a year ago to the day at the Greenbrier, Chubb spoke to reporters about his contract, his career and the state of the running back position. That was at the peak of the discussion about running backs getting their worth and maximizing their windows.

Now, a year later, Chubb had to take a pay cut to stay with the Browns and is trying to get back for the final year of his contract.

That return, by all accounts, is on schedule. What exactly we can expect from Chubb — and what the Browns are expecting — remains unknown, but a season of high goals and high expectations is only about six weeks away.

Cleveland is undoubtedly better when Chubb is a part of its ever-evolving offense, and even if his 2024 season is delayed or limited in any way, the Browns still want him back. For now, we just know that the preseason hype train includes the hope train for Chubb — and that his comeback really is near.