Cleveland Browns’ star running back Nick Chubb will likely be out for the season after he was carted off the field during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night after a severe knee injury.
“Nick’s got a very significant knee injury," Browns Coach Kevin Stefanski said in a postgame briefing Monday night. "He’s a great football player as we know, but he’s an even better person, so we will support him every step along the way.”
Chubb was hit by Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in the second quarter of Monday's game and his left knee went inward, NFL.com reported. Chubb was seen grabbing his leg in pain and medics ran onto the field. He was quickly carted off the field and ruled out of the game.
Stefanski wasn't sure how many ligaments the 27-year-old Georgia athlete had torn.
When asked if he anticipates Chubb will be out for the season, Stefanski said, “I do.”
Chubb injured the same knee during his college career in Georgia in 2015; in that case he had torn his MCL, LCL and PCL, according to ESPN.
“It’s a blow for the whole team and we don’t want his injury to be in vain,” Myles Garrett with the team said in a postgame player press conference. “We got to push on, that’s what he’d want us to do. And if he had any choice in the matter, that’s what he would do. Just gotta continue to fight and use it as motivation.”
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson said Chubb’s injury prompted “a lot of flashbacks to the previous one he had in college.”
“It was tough honestly,” he told reporters after the game. "I know he don’t have a ‘C’ on his jersey, but he’s a captain, he’s a leader, he’s the definition of this team, of this city, of this organization. We got some holes to fill for him.”
Good wishes poured in on social media for Chubb.
Basketball icon LeBron James tweeted “DAMN MAN!!!! Nick Chubb. Praying for the absolute best."
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson tweeted: "Prayers for Nick Chubb."
"Love you Nick…Prayers up," Baker Mayfield, quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, wrote on social media. Meanwhile, former teammate Odell Beckham Jr. wrote: "Prayin for My brother Chubb."