BEREA — Nick Chubb has spent a large part of his life on football fields. However, Wednesday had a much different feel to it for the Browns running back.

"Yeah, it didn't feel real," Chubb said Thursday, a day after he practiced for the first time since a Sept. 18, 2023, knee injury. "It felt like a dream. I feel like I've been up and battling this for a while now. So it was great to get all that off my shoulders and finally get back out there."

Chubb is just over a year removed from first of the two surgeries he underwent last fall on the knee, which he injured during a Week 2 game last season at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The injury included tears to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), the medial capsule and meniscus.

The Browns opened Chubb's 21-day window for returning from the physically unable to perform list, which he's been on since the start of training camp. They can activate him from the list at any point by Oct. 23.

The practice was the latest part of the recovery process, which ramped up in April when Chubb started running. Much of the rehab has been done with his teammates watching admirably.

"I've been seeing him work for over a year now," left guard Joel Bitonio said Thursday. "The guy is focused, he's determined, he looks good to me. I know he's working back and getting that confidence back. It'll be fun today when we see him again when we have the pads on."

No one understands better than Chubb the process that still remains before he can play in a real game. Unfortunately for the four-time Pro Bowler, it's not his first time coming back from an injury to his right knee, having suffered a major injury while at the University of Georgia in 2015.

The prospects of playing Sunday when the Browns (1-3) travel to play the Washington Commanders (3-1) feels far-fetched, even for the seemingly superhuman Chubb. He wasn't even going to get that far out in front of his skis to speculate a potential return.

"I have no idea," Chubb said. "I practiced one day, so I don't know where I'm at yet. I'll get more [of a] feel of it today, I guess ... but I'm not sure."

Chubb may not be sure of when he'll actually be playing again. However, one thing he is sure of is that he's not about to go out and be tentative on the field, whether it's in practice or a game.

Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah joked Wednesday the defense "just want to hit Nick because he's on the scout team, so we just look forward to tackling him down to the ground on Wednesday." That perfectly suits how Chubb wants the defense to treat him.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Chubb said. "I told the defense that I'm up so I got to get back in shape somehow. I go against our defense, which is a great defense, so it'll give me all the looks and feels that I need."

That attitude isn't just Chubb putting on a front. It's the attitude of someone who feels confident in where his knee is in the recovery process.

That attitude was confirmed by what Chubb was able to do in his first day on the practice field.

"Once you get out there and you're running around, it's like you're 8-years old again," Chubb said. "It's like riding a bike. That's not something that's in my head. I mean, you can't control that, so you go out there and play fast."

The biggest adjustment Chubb acknowledged had nothing to do with his knee. It had to do with his position coach.

The Browns changed running backs coaches between the time he suffered the injury in Week 2 of last season and getting back on it Wednesday. Gone was Stump Mitchell, Chubb's position coach since his second season in 2019. In was Duce Staley, who was hired in the offseason as part of an offensive staff shakeup.

Staley's come in and changed some of the old ways of the room. Chubb admitted it took him some time to get used to the new boss, who wasn't nearly like the old boss.

"He's just very intense," Chubb said. "Duce thinks he still plays, and so he takes it out on us. His engine is just nonstop. It's always moving. It's always straining, but that's what we need."

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

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nick Chubb calls return to Browns practice a 'dream'