Nyheim Hines has followed Nick Chubb's footsteps on the path to recovery from knee surgery. He's ready to take the next step. (TheLandOnDemand)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
The other comeback taking place on Sunday is completely overshadowed by Nick Chubb’s return. Nyheim Hines totally understands that.
But don’t think that Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals is no less momentus for Hines than it is for Chubb.
“[It will be] 631 days since I played a football game,” Hines said.
Hines was with the Buffalo Bills when they lost to, coincidentally, the Bengals in a divisional playoff game on January 22, 2023. Hines had 90 yards in kick returns in the game won by Cincinnati, 27-10. Hines had been traded to Buffalo mid-season by the Indianapolis Colts, whose special teams coordinator was Bubba Ventrone.
Hines was getting in his last days of vacation the following summer when a Jet Ski accident resulted in a torn ACL. He was sitting on his watercraft when another skier collided into him.
“It’s been a long journey, a long 14 months,” Hines said.
The Browns signed Hines in March, knowing he would miss all the offseason. His return was delayed longer than Hines expected, but he’s grateful the Browns had faith in him and is excited his debut on the field is near.
Hines benefitted by rehabbing side-by-side with Chubb.
“I knew him some because I played with his cousin Bradley Chubb in college,” Hines said. “Over the last few months, I’m not a morning person, so I’d come here 6:45 a.m. and Chubb’s already here. He’s contagious. His energy is infectious. You have to just really go with him.”
Hines said strength tests show his repaired knee is stronger than ever. As for speed, he recently was timed out of uniform at 22 mph, he said, 2 mph less than his best before the injury.
“Still got work to do,” Hines said, “but I’m super excited to be back.”
Hines said he could be the spark that coach Kevin Stefanski has been looking for to ignite the offense, whether that’s as a dual returner (kickoffs and punts) or as receiver out of the backfield.
“Explosiveness. Every place I’ve been, I’ve brought that. I plan on doing that here,” he said.
In 5 ½ seasons with the Colts, Hines averaged 11.4 yards on punt returns and 25.5 on kickoff returns, with two touchdowns. In a half-season with the Bills, his averages were 9.6 and 29.2 with two touchdowns.
“The thing with him is he’s explosive, and he is fast and he’s hard to catch,” Ventrone said. “So, he’s an aggressive downhill runner, even despite his size (5-9, 196 pounds). He’s an explosive guy that gives you a shot every time he touches the ball.”
It so happens that Hines was a rookie on the 2018 Colts team that started the season 1-5 and wound up winning nine of its last 10 games to make the playoffs and then won a wild-card game on the road. Ventrone has used that example to inspire his special teams.
“I think we had one of the youngest teams in the NFL that year,” Hines said. “Really it just came down to a lot like here, beating ourselves. We could have been 3-3 or 4-2. Certain parts of the game, we just missed shots. We had a great quarterback in Andrew Luck, just like we do here. Eventually we just started making plays and not beating ourselves. That’s what we have to do here.
“Our defense [here] is a lot better. Obviously, the elephant in the room is the offense. We have to get it going. We’ve made some changes [on offense]. I believe in Kevin. We all do believe in him. And [Ken] Dorsey. Two smart guys.”
Jeudy, Jeudy, Jeudy
Amari Cooper was averaging 8.8 targets per game through six games and Jerry Jeudy was averaging 6.0. With Cooper traded, Stefanski isn’t ready to say Jeudy’s load will increase.
“Amari’s volume of targets was a lot,” the coach said. “Well, those have to go to other people. So other people in the wide receiver room, the tight end room, the running back room, what have you. But we do have a lot of confidence in our guys.”
Jeudy wants more targets, obviously. The most targets he averaged in four years in Denver was his rookie season with 7.0 per game. He was down to 5.4 last season.
“This puts me in more position to make plays,” he said. “That’s the only way my role can change. I don’t know how much targets I’ll get but hopefully it increases.”
Stefanski said, “We have options. There are different things that we can do, that we will do. I don’t think that it’s a simple one for one.”
Brownie bits
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said he challenged the cornerbacks to play better. “I expect more from our corners,” he said. “We challenged our corners to improve their play for us. I’ve been very strong in saying that I think our corners are the best group in the NFL. We haven’t played that way so far this year. We played that way in spots, but that’s not the game of football. You have to be consistent.” The cornerbacks have yielded five TD passes in the four-game losing streak. “Our corners lead us, and for us to get where we want to go defensively, they need to get back to playing consistent football the way that they have in the past,” Schwartz said.
Running back Jerome Ford (hamstring) and safety Ronnie Hickman (ankle) were the only DNPs …
Center Ethan Pocic (knee) returned and was limited. Chubb and Hines were full participation for the second day in a row, setting up their expected return to the field for the first time on Sunday.