Heading into their Week 16 match-up against the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns were deservedly being booked as massive underdogs. Nevertheless, they didn’t play like it, especially in the first half, when their rookie running back, Quinshon Judkins, was still available.
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Throughout the first 28 minutes of the game, the Ohio State product was able to generate 51 scrimmage yards on 13 touches while picking up two first downs for Cleveland. Unfortunately, Judkins suffered a broken leg on the first play following the two-minute warning, bringing an early end to his rookie campaign.
“It really hurt when Quinshon went down,” the Browns’ rookie quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, admitted during his post-game press conference. He then noted that “Me and Quinshon were in the room yesterday just talking at like 11-11:30 pm. Just about everything, about life and everything.”
Sanders suggested that establishing rapport with his fellow rookies has been a focal point for him throughout the past several months, so it was “definitely sad” for him to see Judkin’s debut end this way. Although it is worth noting that the former Colorado Buffalo did incur an injury of his own during the Browns’ 23-20 loss, however, it didn’t prove to be as serious as it may have initially seemed.
The tip of Sanders’ right pinky finger had been left noticeably shredded just a few minutes prior to Judkin’s injury, and while it was initially enough to warrant a pre-halftime trip to the locker room, he was ultimately still able to finish the game. Sanders was able to complete 20 of his 29 passing attempts for a total of 157 passing yards and a touchdown while rushing four times for 49 yards.
He also finished with two interceptions as well, but seeing as one of those came prior to his injury, it’s hard to pin the second one on the pinky. Of course, Sanders himself isn’t worried about any of that, as he simply suggested that he only felt bad for putting the team’s other rookie signal caller, Dillon Gabriel, in a questionable spot.
“I didn’t want to put Dillon in a bad situation like I was in, too. It’s tough. It’s tough to play that role because you don’t get reps, you don’t get anything. I was talking to him, and I said, ‘My bad, bro, for putting you in that situation.’ Because it’s not ideal. I want him to be prepared whenever he is out there.”
Sanders will be good to go for the Browns’ Week 17 home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but as for Judkins, he now figures to be on the back burner until talks of training camps and OTAs begin to emerge. The only other notable marks on his injury history come from a shoulder injury that occurred in Week 8, which forced him to miss one game, and an unspecified hand injury that predates his NFL status, so there’s no need to worry about Judkin’s long-term viability.
