Titans Catching Injury-Depleted Browns on Short Week on Sunday

The Tennessee Titans play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, and they are catching them at the right time. The Browns had to play on Monday night — they lost at Pittsburgh — and also lost star running back Nick Chubb for the season with a gruesome knee injury.

NASHVILLE — Timing means a lot in the NFL, and the Tennessee Titans are getting a nice break the next two weeks. Their opponent next Sunday — the Cleveland Browns — had to play on Monday night in Week 2, so they're going to have a short week.

And then the Titans get a break again in Week 4, too. They host the Bengals on Sunday, Oct. 1, just six days after the Bengals play on a Monday night, too. 

That extra day to prepare should help the 1-1 Titans, who are feeling good after a 27-24 overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The Browns aren't feeling good at all after losing star running back Nick Chubb to a devastating left knee injury in the 26-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After the game, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski called the knee injury "significant" and said "I do" when asked if he thought Chubb was done for the year.

Multiple sources reported that Chubb suffered multiple tears in his knee. According to ESPN, a team official said Chubb was taken to a local hospital as a precaution but did return to Cleveland late Monday night. 

"Obviously it's a huge loss," Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper said. "Nick is the engine of the team, the best player on the team. ... I'm very sad for Nick, sad for this team losing Nick. Not only is it not ideal, it's a tragedy."

Chubb got hurt in the second quarter following a 5-yard run in the red zone. He went down awkwardly — if you get queasy, don't watch the video highlight of the injury — and was tackled by Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. He needed to be carted off the field. 

Chubb, who had major reconstruction surgery on that same knee in 2015 while in college at Georgia, is one of the best backs in the game. Chubb already had 64 rushing yards on Monday night, and he had rushed for more than 1,000 yards in four straight seasons. He had a career-high 1,525 rushing yards a year ago. The Browns never scored again on Monday after he left.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Chubb is one of just five players in NFL history with at least eight rushing touchdowns in each of his first five seasons, alongside Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith and former Browns great Jim Brown.

Browns All-Pro guard Joel Bitonio said the Browns offense wasn't the same after Chubb left. "He's a great teammate, he works hard, a great person," Bitonio said. "To see him go down, it's tough.It's a big loss."

The Browns, a frustrating franchise for years, were hoping to be a playoff contender this year, but this was a devastating blow. They were trying to start 2-0 for the first time since 1993 after an impressive win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1. Instead, they'll have to move forward without one of the best players in the game.

"That's our brother, my brother," All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett said. "We've been together a long time. It's a blow for the whole team. We don't want his injury to be in vain. We've got tp push on. That's what he would want us to do. Just continue to fight."

The Titans have had some good fortune to start the season. It's safe to say that Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints), Austin Ekeler (Los Angeles Chargers) and Chubb are on everyone's top-10 list when it comes to elite running backs.

The Titans have missed them all.

Kamara, who has 8,888 yards from scrimmage in his first six seasons with the Saints, was out with a suspension for the Week 1 Titans-Saints game in New Orleans. In his absence, New Orleans rushed for only 69 yards on 27 carries, a measly 2.6 yards per carry.

Ekeler, who rushed for 915 yards last year and also had 107 receptions, missed Sunday's game with an ankle injury. Without him, Los Angeles rushed for just 61 yards in 21 carries, a 2.9-yard average.

The Titans are always good at stopping the run — they were No. 1 in the league a year ago — but they've also been dominant in shutting down backups during the first two weeks. Their 65.0 average is third in the league, behind only Philadelphia (52.0) and Tampa Bay (54.0).

Cleveland really struggled to run the ball after Chubb went out. Jerome Ford had one big run — a 69-yarder — but otherwise had just 37 yards on 15 carries, a 2.4-yard average.

Related Titans stories

• WHAT VRABEL SAID: Here's the full transcript from Titans coach Mike Vrabel's press conference on Monday. He talked a lot about the win over the Chargers, and starting looking ahead to Sunday's game with the Browns. CLICK HERE
• GIBBENS' GROWTH AT LINEBACKER: Tennessee Titans linebacker Jack Gibbens drove back to Texas after being cut from the team prior to the 2022 season, now he's helping drive the Titans' defense as a starter in 2023. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 2 DEFENSIVE GRADES: The Tennessee Titans defense took on a talented Los Angeles Charger offense on Sunday and while it wasn't always pretty, the defense got the job done and we saw that reflected in the player grades for Week 2. CLICK HERE
• WEEK 2 OFFENSIVE GRADES: The Tennessee Titans got a big overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers and saw some excellent performances on offense, led by a brilliant game from quarterback Ryan Tannehill. CLICK HERE
• GAME STORY: Despite a slow start, the Tennessee Titans made a lot of big plays on offense and got huge overtime stops on defense to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 27-24 on Sunday, snapping an eight-game losing streak dating back to last November. CLICK HERE
• PHOTO GALLERY: Here are two dozen of the best pictures from the Titans' exciting win over the Chargers on Sunday. Lots of great stuff here. CLICK HERE