Raiders pro Jakob Johnson analyses the situation that led to Browns running back Nick Chubb’s injury – and talks about which ELF scene he’s talking to his NFL teammates about.

The knee injury to Browns star Nick Chubb has shocked the NFL and the sports world alike. The Cleveland running back suffered a serious injury after being tackled by Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and is out for the rest of the season.

In the joint podcast “What happens in Vegas” with Christoph “Icke” Dommisch, fullback Jakob Johnson of the Las Vegas Raiders assessed the situation as unfortunate, but said it was not a “dirty hit” for him.

“I can’t really blame him for it,” Johnson said of Fitzpatrick: “It looked to me like a safety saying, ‘Hey, I got a power back coming at me, I’m going to tackle him low’. And the tackle unfortunately led to an injury, but I don’t think the injury was his goal.”

He really knows few people in the league who would try to hurt someone on purpose, Johnson said.

The 28-year-old instead explained the situation like this: “You set your target, you have a spot you’re aiming at, but the opponent also has a say, your target is moving and maybe you don’t quite hit the target you had in mind.”

Johnson wished Chubb “a speedy recovery” and said he was a professional “who is not guilty of anything” and “not someone you see in the headlines in any way”. He said Chubb “did everything right” and carried his team with his running performance.

Johnson on ELF final

In contrast, Johnson had seen clear unsporting behaviour in the European League of Football (ELF): Glen Toonga of Rhein Fire was at times only to be stopped by Frankfurt Galaxy by fouls, an opponent even pulled the running back by his dreadlocks to stop him. Johnson was even spoken to by his NFL teammates about the scene.

Now Rhein Fire will face Johnson’s hometown club Stuttgart Surge in the playoff final on Sunday. The NFL pro’s verdict: “Glen Toonga is fun as long as he doesn’t play against my team. “