Browns: Ford to be No. 1 RB after Chubb injury
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Jake Trotter, ESPN Staff Writer
BEREA, Ohio — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Tuesday that Jerome Ford is now Cleveland’s featured running back in the wake of the season-ending injury to Nick Chubb.
The All-Pro rusher injured his left knee in the second quarter of Monday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Chubb had to be carted off the field. Stefanski declined to specify Chubb’s injury but did say that Chubb would require surgery.
Stefanski said the Browns are “working on” adding another player to the running back room, but that Ford would take over for Chubb as Cleveland’s lead back.
Free agent running back Kareem Hunt, who played for the Browns the past four seasons, is visiting the team in the wake of Chubb’s injury, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Ford rushed for 106 yards on 16 carries Monday, including a 69-yard run that set up a Browns touchdown. He also caught three passes for 25 yards and hauled in a touchdown grab immediately after Chubb’s injury.
“You don’t replace Nick Chubb,” Stefanski said. “You just don’t do that. Great players in the league, you look around, they go out. It’s always not one person that replaces a player of [Chubb’s] caliber. So, everybody’s got to do a little bit more, a little bit more everywhere.”
The Browns drafted Ford in the fifth round out of Cincinnati last year.
