QB Jameis Winston doesn’t believe in coincidences.

That’s why, before the Browns hosted the Steelers on Thursday Night Football in Week 12, Winston shared a short and simple message with RB Nick Chubb.

“Before this game I told Nick, ‘I got you today,’” Winston recalled. “I know how important this was to him. And we’re not going to talk about last year. You all know the performance. But I’m so grateful and happy that I could see a smile on his face afterward.” that sweet victory against this team.”

Just fourteen months ago, Chubb suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 of the 2023 season against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. He was carted off the field, examined both at the stadium and at a local hospital, and traveled back to Cleveland.

It began a year-long recovery process – which required two separate knee surgeries to repair the medial capsule, meniscus and medical collateral ligament (MCL), as well as his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) – and a lengthy rehabilitation process he had to undergo. took the field for the first time this season in Week 7 against the Bengals.

And while his return to the field in Week 7 – in which he scored a rushing touchdown – was significant in its own right, the showdown with the Steelers on Thursday Night Football was on a different scale.

“It meant a lot to me,” DE Myles Garrett said. ‘I know it means a lot to him. He won’t say it, but it’s true, I will say it. This time last year we were sick and it hurt to hurt his family, To deal with all that, he had to go through that kind of recovery, that mental obstacle. Not knowing what your future is and how long it will take to get back. There was just so much in the air. For him to come back and play a pivotal role in this, it just speaks to the kind of resilience and the man he is, and we absolutely love him.”