Jerome Ford has become in the NFL what he wasn’t at Alabama – the featured back. But Ford won’t be replacing Nick Chubb even while filling his role, Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said.

Chubb sustained a season-ending knee injury in the Browns’ 26-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. Since Chubb joined Cleveland from Georgia in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, only one player has had more rushing yards – Derrick Henry, another former Alabama ball-carrier who’ll be in Cleveland on Sunday with the Tennessee Titans.

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“You don’t replace Nick Chubb,” Stefanski said. “You just don’t do that. Great players in the league — you look around, they go out, it’s always not one person that replaces a player of his caliber, so everybody’s got to do a little bit more, got to do a little bit more everywhere.”

But stepping into the featured-back role for the Browns, Stefanski said, will be Ford.

At Alabama, Ford played behind future NFL running backs Damien Harris, Najee Harris, Josh Jacobs and Brian Robinson Jr. Ford ran for 37 yards on seven carries before being redshirted after four games in 2018, then had 114 yards and three touchdowns on 24 rushing attempts in 2019 before leaving for Cincinnati.

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Ford ran for 1,319 yards and 19 touchdowns on 215 carries and caught 21 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown for Cincinnati in 2021. But he played only 14 offensive snaps as a fifth-round rookie, totaling 12 yards on eight rushing attempts while leading the AFC with 723 kickoff-return yards in 2022.

Ford had 36 rushing yards as Cleveland opened the 2023 season with a 24-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 10.

After Chubb went down in the second quarter on Monday night, Ford ran for 106 yards on 16 carries and caught three passes for 25 yards. His first NFL reception resulted in a touchdown against the Steelers.

“Jerome, as we’ve told you guys all along, he studies hard, he knows what to do, runs hard,” Stefanski said. “There’s a reason we like him. There’s a reason he’s a big part of what we do, and, obviously, his role will increase, and I think he’s ready for that.”

The Browns and the Titans will square off at noon CDT Sunday at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland.

“Disappointed,” Stefanski said about Chubb’s injury. “I can’t say it enough. I know our team feels that way. I know our fans feel that way. But – and I know Nick when you guys get to talk to him will say the same thing — we got to move on. We got a big one this week. We’ll miss Nick and we will support Nick, but we’re moving on to Tennessee.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.