AFC Notes: Deshaun Watson, Nick Chubb, Browns, Steelers

Browns

• Browns HC Kevin Stefanski was asked if QB Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending injury: “Let’s get the tests first, but that’s what it looks like.” (Zac Jackson)
• The Browns still owe Watson a fully guaranteed $46 million in 2025 and $46 million in 2026. Watson’s salary cap number for 2025 and 2026 is $72.935 million, with another $26 million towards the cap if he is released or traded.
• Browns K Dustin Hopkins declined to speak to reporters after the game in the locker room before later returning and spending several minutes answering questions about his missed kicks and the team’s losing streak. (Jackson)
• Stefanski said he would provide injury updates on Monday for QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and RT Jack Conklin. (Chris Easterling)
• Stefanski refused to comment on an “internal matter” that led to WR Elijah Moore not playing in the first quarter. (Easterling)

Nick Chubb

Browns RB Nick Chubb wrote an essay in The Players Tribune where he described his return from his recent knee injury. He also suffered a major knee injury during his college career at Georgia.

“This was not my first rodeo. My sophomore year at Georgia, just as I was really starting to make a name for myself, I had one of those freak injuries that can end your career. I was just trying to finish out a run, get an extra yard … and the next thing I know my leg buckles under me kind of funny … and then the whole stadium goes silent. I didn’t even realize how bad it was until they loaded me into the police SUV to get me to the hospital, and I finally checked my phone,” Chubb wrote. “… But I was so young and naive, and my leg was still numb, so I’m thinking, “I’ll be back. Don’t you worry about it. Whatever happened, I’m the exception. I’m coming back stronger.”

Chubb re-injured the same knee in 2023, aware he had several nails and plates inserted into his knee back in college. He recalls how his leg atrophied down to the size of his arm after wearing a straight-knee brace for nine weeks. 

“When I was lying on the ground against Pittsburgh, I wasn’t so naive anymore. I had so many metal nails and plates in my knee from the first one. I’m thinking: Please don’t let those nails be splintered all over my leg right now. I knew what rehab from something like this actually meant. I knew what nine weeks in a straight-knee brace does to a leg. When I finally got out and saw my leg the first time, it had atrophied down to the size of my arm. I thought I was never gonna walk the same again, let alone run,” Chubb wrote. 

Chubb feels empowered by the city of Cleveland because of the support he’s received from fans. 

“What’s amazing to me is how much support I had from the city of Cleveland. I know I’m not a guy who says a lot, but I do read the comments. I saw how much love you guys showed for me. In the NFL these days, that’s rare. It seemed like at times Browns fans were the only ones who weren’t seeing it as “just a business.” You believed, so I believed,” Chubb wrote.

• Ian Rapoport reports that teams have called the Browns and asked about potential trades for DL Quinton Jefferson.

Steelers

• Dianna Russini points out that if QB Justin Fields plays 51 percent of Pittsburgh’s snaps this season, the trade compensation to the Bears will change from a sixth-round pick to a fourth-round pick.
• Russini has spoken to sources around the league who believe this could be factoring into HC Mike Tomlin‘s process regarding how much Fields’ plays going forward.