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Nick Chubb: I get better as games go on for Cleveland Browns

Nick Chubb is confident that the more work he gets, the stronger he becomes for the Cleveland Browns.
Credit: Scott Galvin
Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb (24) runs the ball into the end zone for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.

The 2018 season has proven to be much like a four-quarter game for Cleveland Browns rookie running back Nick Chubb.

After a feeling-out period over the first quarter of the season, where he did not play much, Chubb made the most of his opportunities in the second quarter, so much so that the Browns traded veteran ball-carrier Carlos Hyde to the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 19.

As the season continues today with a game against the Atlanta Falcons at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Chubb is confident he is getting better, just as he does throughout competition on game days.

“I think that as the game goes and the more and more carries that I get, I definitely get better,” Chubb said earlier this week. “It just starts coming more naturally to me to get rolling and get going.”

Credit: Charles LeClaire
Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb (24) rushes the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

After rushing for 85 yards and one touchdown on 22 carries, an average of 3.9 yards per attempt, in last Sunday’s 37-21 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Chubb was nominated for the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week Award, where he competed against Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley, Miami Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker (Cleveland/Benedictine High School), Chicago Bears linebacker Roquan Smith and his teammate, quarterback Baker Mayfield, who won the honor.

Previously, Chubb won the award in Week 4 after rushing for 105 yards and two touchdowns on just three carries in a 45-42 overtime loss to the Oakland Raiders at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in California on September 30.

“At no time has he had big eyes,” Browns interim coach Gregg Williams said. “He is a tough guy, and his pad level is good, too. Do not want to jinx him, but his ball protection is pretty good, too. That is a huge part of this league, much more than it is at the level when you come out of college and high school anymore because of all of the spatial things that are going on with spreading people out.

“Very [few] times are you swarmed with multiple people at those levels. At this level, with the ball in the middle of the field, the hash marks are not the same, the speed of the players are much more relative that he has protected the ball well. Do not want to jinx him, but he has protected the ball well.”

Credit: Cary Edmondson
Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb (24) runs for a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders in the second quarter at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.

Since Hyde’s trade to the Jaguars went through 48 hours ahead of a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, Chubb has become the Browns’ feature running back, rushing for 230 yards and two touchdowns on 58 carries, an average of 3.96 yards per attempt.

And to the Browns’ coaching staff, what has been the most important development in Chubb’s game is his taking steps to become a complete running back at the NFL level.

“Protection, pass receiving, all of that can be overwhelming at times,” Williams said. “He has not blinked. He has enough intelligence to process that. We, as coaches, have to have enough intelligence not to overload him.”

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