CLEVELAND — The Browns can hand off the ball to Nick Chubb again.

Cleveland activated the star running back from injured reserve on Saturday, clearing the way for him to play today (1 p.m., FOX) against Houston (2-6) after missing four games with a sprained right knee.

Chubb practiced this week for the first time since hurting his knee while blocking early in an Oct. 4 win over Dallas. The Browns (5-3) were leading the NFL in rushing when Chubb got hurt, but Cleveland’s offense hasn’t been the same without the 2019 Pro Bowler.

Chubb’s return has his teammates elated.

“Nick is damn near superhuman,” said right guard Wyatt Teller, also back after missing three games with a calf strain.

Chubb looked quick and made all his cuts without any setbacks this week, but coach Kevin Stefanski waited to talk to the team’s medical staff before deciding to put him back on the roster.

He will return to face a Houston defense that is allowing a league-worst 159.5 yards rushing per game.

With Chubb and Kareem Hunt, who won a rushing title with Kansas City in 2017, the Browns have one of the best backfield tandems in the league.

“Nothing against our other backs because we believe in those guys as well, but having that two-headed monster of those guys being able to sub fresh legs in as needed, that is something that we are extremely blessed to have,” said Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.

With rain in the forecast, Texans interim coach Romeo Crennel expects the Browns to pound the ball.

“We know we have our hands full, but we have to try to load up on the run as best we can, and knowing that if you load up on the run, that opens some things up on the back end,” Crennel said. “We have a lot of things that we have to work out.”

Chubb, who ran for 1,494 yards last season, gives the Browns another needed playmaker as the team is adjusting its schemes without wide receiver and deep threat Odell Beckham Jr., who suffered a season-ending knee injury last month.

A second-round pick in 2018, Chubb ran for 335 yards and scored four touchdowns in three-plus games. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry.

The team also elevated guard Michael Dunn from the practice squad. He’ll give the Browns some depth after lineman Chris Hubbard was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list Friday.

Hubbard had started the past three games for Teller

The Browns are coming off a bye week devoted to fixing some of the inconsistencies that plagued them in the season’s first half.

Cleveland reached the midpoint with a winning record for just the third time since 1999, and while Stefanski is doing all he can to keep his players focused on the here and now, the Browns have a realistic shot at ending a playoff drought dating to 2002.

“Obviously, that is the end goal, but we have to take it one game at a time,” said Mayfield. “We are excited about this back half of the year and the grind that it is going to be.”

WATT A GAME

J.J. Watt showed off his offensive skills the previous time he played in Cleveland.

The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year had one of his three touchdowns in 2014 on a 2-yard TD reception for Houston’s first score in a 23-7 victory. He lined up at tight end and pulled down a pass from Ryan Mallett.

“It was a good throw,” Watt recalled. “It was either going to be I caught it, or it went out of bounds.”

Watt also had a strip sack and recovered a fumble. It wasn’t a perfect day as he was penalized twice for roughing the punter.

“I thought for sure I was going to block each of those punts,” he said. “I had to be like an inch away. So, the strip-sack and the touchdown were kind of my way to pay back the team.”

FULL STRENGTH

The bye week gave the Browns a chance for bumps and bruises to heal. In addition to Chubb and Teller returning, tight end Austin Hooper is back after sitting out two games following an appendectomy.

Mayfield and receiver Jarvis Landry are both feeling better after dealing with broken ribs.

“It is amazing what just not getting hit on one Sunday does for you,” Mayfield said.

DANGEROUS DESHAUN

While Houston’s record might be disappointing, quarterback Deshaun Watson has maintained his high standards.

He’s thrown 17 TD passes, just five picks and is completing 68.3 percent of his passes. Add in his mobility, and it’s easy to understand why the Browns are nervous.

“Very dangerous,” Cleveland defensive coordinator Joe Woods said of Watson. “I have not slept very much this week. You can just tell just in terms of their offense and how they put it together with the run and pass game.”