Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb has been placed on the PUP list to begin the season, meaning he will miss at least the first four games of the 2024 NFL season.

There was some initial optimism that Chubb could potentially return in Week 5, but Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com never seemed to think that was all that realistic.

“I think the hope was always that Chubb, who was physically unable to play for at least the first four weeks, would be ready mid-season, possibly Week 8 against the Ravens, Week 9 against the Chargers, or perhaps after the Week 10 bye,” Cabot wrote.

Cabot added that Chubb’s impressive performance in offseason workouts may have led fans to believe he would return sooner.

“Expectations were high at the Greenbrier when he sprinted and cut so well, but the Browns hit the brakes to give Chubb the time he needed to recover from the second major left knee reconstruction of his career,” Cabot wrote.

This should come as no big surprise to Browns fans.

Finally, in the second week of last season, Chubb suffered an absolutely devastating knee injury that seemed to put his NFL career in jeopardy.

Chubb himself raised some hopes when he didn’t rule out a Week 1 return at the start of the offseason, but that was probably more wishful thinking than anything else.

For Chubb, a midseason return was almost certainly always the most likely scenario, but given the severity of his injury, that’s not set in stone either.

Chubb made four consecutive Pro Bowl appearances between 2019 and 2022, recording 1,525 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in the latter season.