Cleveland Browns expected to open up return to practice window for running back Nick Chubb

LAS VEGAS — The door could be opening for Nick Chubb's return to game action for the Browns .

A source confirmed for the Beacon Journal on Sunday morning the team was looking to open up Chubb's 21-day return to practice window this week, a year from his first surgery. The running back has been on the physically unable to perform list since the start of training camp as he continues to work his way back from a devastating knee injury he suffered in last season's Week 2 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This week was the first one he was eligible to be activated from the PUP list. That's not necessarily what will happen with Chubb, at least not in time for next Sunday's road game at the Washington Commanders.

Chubb has been working out with Browns medical and training personnel in the facility, mostly behind closed doors. He was seen a handful of times during training camp working out with a trainer on one of the practice fields.

Chubb had his first surgery last Sept. 29 to repair damage to the medial collateral ligament (MCL), the medial capsule and meniscus, all which had also been repaired while he was at Georgia. The second surgery on Nov. 14 repaired a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which he hadn't damaged in 2015.

“I would say it does help just knowing how to attack it mentally and knowing I might not be at a certain point through the rehab process that I want to be," Chubb said on June 5. "But I know just taking it day by day and the weeks add up and the months add up and eventually I'll get to where I want to be.”

The injury at Georgia still didn't cost Chubb any games in either the 2016 or 2017 seasons. He didn't set any kind of timetable for a return from the most recent injury when he spoke in June, although he did say "we'll see" when asked if he could see himself back in time for the Sept. 8 season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.

Chubb didn't start load running as part of the rehab process until April. During the offseason, multiple videos came out on social media of him working out at his high school alma mater in Cedartown, Ga., with almost no evidence of the injury, including one on July 15 that showed him doing two squat reps with 540 pounds .

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns expected to open up return to practice window for running back Nick Chubb