Nick Chubb, the leader of the Browns' ground-and-pound attack, suffered an MCL injury and is expected to miss "several weeks," coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday.
Chubb, who will be placed on injured reserve, won't require surgery and is expected to return at some point this season.
"Knowing Nick, he is going to work very hard in rehab," Stefanski said. "And so, I know that is hard to see your teammate go down like that but knowing Nick he will work his butt off to get back.
"You never like to see your players on the ground like that. And again, Nick does not say much as you guys know, but he is a leader of this football team. His teammates really respond to him and the way he goes about his business. He is disappointed, but I can promise you he is going to attack this rehab."
Chubb, who finished second in the NFL in rushing yards last season, leads the Browns with 335 rushing yards and four touchdowns. He's already posted two 100-yard games on the season and has the most 20-yard rushes of any NFL player since 2018.
Without Chubb, the Browns will rely on the trio of Kareem Hunt, D'Ernest Johnson and Dontrell Hilliard to help fill the void. That group stepped up in a big way Sunday in Dallas, with Johnson leading the way with 95 yards and Hunt adding 71 yards and two touchdowns. WR Odell Beckham Jr. had 73 on two carries, including 50 on a game-sealing touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. For the first time in team history, the Browns had three players with 70 or more rushing yards.
"That was good to see with those guys stepping up, the offensive line and the tight ends and the wide receivers they are all straining, and the runners were running through arm tackles and breaking tackles so that that was good to see," Stefanski said. "But you lose a player of Nick's caliber, we are going to need those guys to step up really across the entire offense."
