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The Cleveland Browns have bolstered their backfield depth by signing veteran running back Royce Freeman to the practice squad on Tuesday.
The signing comes as the Browns are dealing with injuries in their running back room and uncertainty surrounding Nick Chubb’s return.
Freeman was most recently with the Dallas Cowboys but was waived before the start of the season. He may not be a big name but Freeman comes with a resume that includes 79 games played.
Freeman has rushed for 1,792 yards on 471 carries and has found the end zone 10 times. He’s spent time with the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams.
Freeman joins a Browns running back room that includes Jerome Ford, D’Onta Foreman and Pierre Strong Jr. Foreman got most of the work during the team’s Week 2 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars, rushing 14 times for 42 yards. Ford led Cleveland in rushing yards, collecting 64 on 7 carries. The majority of his yardage came on a 36-yard scamper.
The Browns have dubbed Strong “week to week” after he exitied with a hamstring injury against the Jaguars.
Nick Chubb Could Be Out Through Browns’ Bye Week
The signing of Freeman could be a slight indicator on Chubb’s status. The Browns’ Pro Bowl back is currently on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. The earliest Chubb could return is on October 6 against the Washington Commanders.
However, Chubb could be out longer as he continues to rebound from serious knee surgery. He suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Pittsburgh Steelers a year ago after taking a questionable low hit from safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“As far as Nick Chubb is concerned, we haven’t heard anything much. Week 5 might be a little bit soon, I’d expect to see him somehwere around midseason,” Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot said on the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show on Tuesday. “Maybe they’ll get him through the bye (Week 10) and let him come back after that. I think they can get the running game accomplished without Nick. I think the 1-2 punch of Jerome and D’Onta Foreman is going to work as they feel theirway through it a bit more.”
Cabot clarified that she hasn’t heard anything from the team but is making an “educated guess” on Chubb’s status.
“It’s such a major, major surgery he had to go through and a revision on a previous major knee reconstruction,” Cabot said. “They don’t want to rush it and give him the time that he needs. Somewhere around the midpoint we’ll start to see him.”
Browns Want More Out of Ground Game Without Nick Chubb
The Browns’ ground game — and the offense as a whole — took a step in the right direction against the Jaguars but it was still far from perfect.
“I think we had some good moments, obviously, in the run game, some good moments in the pass game, but we definitely have to play cleaner,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday. “I will tell you; we were better on first and second down which is a very, very big part of having any production on offense. So, we were better, but we feel like there’s still things that we can do better, certainly, when it comes to the run game.”
Cleveland currently ranks No. 21 in the NFL with 109 yards per game on the ground through two weeks.
The Browns will look to up that number this week as they host the 0-2 New York Giants on Sunday.
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