Kelly: Bradley Chubb’s long road back awaits its finish line | Opinion
Bradley Chubb was having the best statistical season of his NFL career.
The two-time Pro Bowl selection finally felt at home in his new city, playing for his new team, and then in a meaningless snap in a game that was already decided, the Miami Dolphins pass rusher took one unforgiving step and it triggered a nightmarish 2024.
“At the top of the world, God finds ways to humble you,” Chubb said Thursday afternoon while discussing the injury he sustained last New Years Eve in Miami’s 56-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Chubb tore his anterior cruciate ligament, patella tendon and meniscus in his right knee playing late in the fourth quarter of that critical AFC game, which at the time was viewed as a showdown for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
Chubb had history with season-ending knee injuries before this, enduring one twice before in his football career. But this one was different. It was more complex, which is why the repair required a five-hour surgical procedure, and what Chubb describes as the most difficult challenge of his life.
“Seeing from when I was there to where I am now is nothing short of a blessing,” Chubb said at the conclusion of his fifth practice with the team after being activated from the physically unable to perform list last week. “I’m chopping wood and carrying water every day, continuing to have a positive mind-set.
“Wasn’t easy, but at the end of the day it got me to where I am right now, and I’m continuing to move forward.”
By forward, Chubb is referring to stepping on the field for the Dolphins in the season’s final month, crossing the finish line of his 11-month rehabilitation.
Based on how Miami’s defense has performed in the Thanksgiving Day loss to Green Bay, and last Sunday’s overtime win against the New York Jets, it’s clear the Dolphins could use his services.
Even in victories, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s unit has struggled lately, and there are valid reasons for that.
Tyus Bowser, who took over the starting role after Jaelan Phillips sustained a season-ending knee injury in September, is on injured reserve because of a knee injury that became too problematic to play through.
Emmanuel Ogbah has played most of this season with a torn bicep in his right arm, which has limited his contributions.
Chop Robinson, the Dolphins’ 2024 first-round pick, is a limited run defender, which makes him a pass rushing specialist primarily.
And Quinton Bell, a former practice squad player, has sparingly played snaps in regular-season games.
If there was ever a time to unleash Miami’s injured, and rehabbing pass rushers, which includes Cameron Goode, who has been rehabbing a patella injury he sustained in the same Ravens game, it’s now.
Only the Atlanta Falcons have produced fewer sacks than the Dolphins (24) this season.
The Dolphins have also struggled stopping the run most of this season, allowing 4.3 yards per carry a game and 105.2 rushing yards per game.
The return of Chubb, an established 72-game starter who has accumulated 39.5 sacks in his previous six seasons, couldn’t hurt, even if he’s on a third downs-only snap restriction.
“I don’t really know that answer, in terms of what to expect from him,” Weaver said on Thursday when asked how Chubb has looked in practices. “When he’s out there on the field he certainly doesn’t look out of place. It’s just a matter of confidence and when all the doctors and medical people say he’s ready, he’ll be out there on the field.”
So this is clearly a medical slow cooking?
Chubb and Goode, a special teams contributor who logged 76 defensive snaps last season, have each labored 11 months to get back on the field.
There are only four-regular season games left, so why not take the risk of putting them out there at 70 percent.
A 70 percent Chubb is probably better than a 100 percent Mohamed Kamara, the 2024 fifth-round pick who has sparingly played this season.
Just imagine the emotional jolt it would provide the defense seeing Chubb finally in uniform, and taking the field for the first time in 2024..
Miami’s in the hunt for the final AFC wild card spot, and a loss Sunday realistically makes the rest of this season meaningless to everyone but people with job instability.
So why not break the glass in this emergency situation and throw everything this team has at the C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans in this makeshift elimination game?
“I’m just taking this day-by-day. I’m not trying to look big picture. I want to see how I feel each and every day, see how it responds to every obstacle that is thrown at me and hopefully it trends in the right direction,” said Chubb, who recorded 73 tackles, 11 sacks, forced six fumbles and recovered two in the 16 games he played in 2023. “It would be cool getting back out there and having a new memory other than my last football snap.
“I know it’s going to be a continued uphill climb. But these past 11 months have [prepared] me for that.”
