Nick Chubb makes return for Browns after serious knee injury ended running back's 2023 season

CLEVELAND — Nick Chubb made it all the way back — like he promised.

Cleveland's star running back, whose 2023 season e nded with a devastating knee injury in Week 2, returned to the field Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, providing a lift for Browns fans and a team needing a spark.

Chubb received a thunderous ovation during pregame player introductions, which helped offset quarterback Deshaun Watson being booed as he ran out of the tunnel in Huntington Bank Field.

Last season, Chubb, who is one of the most popular athletes in Cleveland history, was carted off the field after his left knee, the same one he injured while at Georgia, was wrecked on a hard hit near the goal line by Pittsburgh safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Earlier this week, Chubb wrote an essay in which he said he feared his football career was over as he was carted off the field.

After the Bengals returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, Chubb got his first carry in more than a year on the third play and picked up 2 yards.

Chubb has rushed for 6,511 yards and scored 48 touchdowns in five-plus seasons for the Browns, who drafted him in the second round in 2018.