CLEVELAND — It was almost like the old Kareem Hunt.

Hunt took a screen pass from Deshaun Watson and started moving upfield. However, with cornerback Roger McCreary cluttering the turf in front of him, he hurdled over him and kept on going for a 13-yard gain.

The play may have been relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of the Browns' 27-3 win over the Tennessee Titans, but to the more than 67,000 in attendance it was a momentary glimpse of the Hunt so many remembered from earlier in his career.

"Yeah, I knew we had to get a first down," Hunt said of the hurdle, "so I was trying to find a way and the guy happened to dive low under (left guard) Joel (BItonio), because I wanted to start running actually, but it was seeing the first down, just jump, instincts pretty much."

The play wasn't the first time Hunt, a Willoughby South High School graduate, garnered an ovation from the fans. That's even though the reason for him being on the field — Nick Chubb's season-ending injury last Monday — had many of them despondent just six days earlier.

However, when Chubb went down, the Browns went hunting for a back to add to the pairing of Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr. Their hunt led them back to Hunt, who spent the previous four seasons with the Browns before not being re-signed in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.

The reasons for why the Browns didn't re-sign Hunt much earlier, or why any other team didn't, is irrelevant at this point. It certainly didn't matter with 12:28 remaining in the first quarter when he checked into the huddle for the first time.

"I thought something was happening," Hunt said of the ovation. "I'm like, 'Oh, man, oh, dang.' It was pretty cool. It definitely felt good. Put a little pressure on me. I'm like, 'All right, I might have to do something sweet now. Dang, everybody going' but, no, that's a cool deal, man. I love Cleveland and I guess Cleveland loves me."

Hunt's affinity for the player he's essentially replacing on the roster was also on display. He arrived for the game wearing Chubb's team-issued walk-through jersey.

After the game, as Hunt talked while wearing the jersey, he summed it all up.

"We did it for him," Hunt said. "Nick is a brother. Everybody wanted to win this for him, too, and we definitely miss him out there, the person and the teammate, the player he is. But we got to keep finding a way to win games."

Hunt, on this Sunday, had his role. He finished with five carries for 13 yards, with another 22 yards on two catches.

The seventh-year pro was one of three back to have at least four carries on a day when the running game had its struggles against a solid Tennessee run defense. Ford led the way with 18 yards on 10 carries, while Strong added a team-high 27 yards on six carries.

"It was great, man," receiver Amari Cooper said. "Like I said earlier in the week, we know what Kareem could do. Obviously he had probably some limited carries today, but he looked like Kareem. He was bouncing off of tackles and stuff like that. So I think we're in a good spot in regards to the running back position."

Alex Wright learns from Za'Darius Smith, gets first sack

Alex Wright went through his rookie season with the Browns a year ago unable to notch a sack for himself. The third-round pick out of UAB, though, found himself with a new defensive end teammate in May in Za'Darius Smith.

In Smith, Wright had someone to provide him guidance. That guidance paid off in a sack Sunday, when he dropped Ryan Tannehill for a 10-yard loss at the Titans 8 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the game.

That was one of five sacks for the Browns in the game.

"Alex is a great kid. He loves to listen, man," Smith said. "And if he keeps listening, as you can see, what can really happen, man. I think he made some big plays for us today and that's big for our football team, man. And for him to have that confidence, hopefully it'll keep going for him."

Quick takeaways on Donovan Peoples-Jones, Elijah Moore and Harrison Bryant

• Donovan Peoples-Jones had three catches for 49 yards on Sunday. However, few were bigger than the impressive 29-yard third-quarter catch in which he was tightly covered by McCreary near the right sideline, but still managed to pull the pass in and get his feet down inbounds. That jump-started a drive that ended with Ford scoring on a 3-yard run to make it 20-3 Browns.

• Elijah Moore finally got fully involved in the offense. The receiver had nine catches on nine targets for 49 yards. He also ran it three times, although he netted minus-1 yard on those carries. Moore was credited with a fumble, but that was as much on the Titans defender, Sean Murphy-Bunting, pulling the ball loose as it was Moore just being careless with the football.

• Harrison Bryant, wildcat quarterback. Just like we all knew, right? The fourth-year tight end was called upon twice to help the Browns pick up short-yardage situations. Bryant motioned under center twice on two 2-yard gains. One was a third-and-1 from the Titans 21, one play before Watson hit Ford for a 19-yard touchdown. He also did it on a third-and-1 from the Browns 45 to keep alive a drive that ended with Watson's 43-yard touchdown pass to Cooper.

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

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kareem Hunt feels the hometown love in return in Browns win: Takeaways