The Cleveland Browns were not exactly robust when it came to running the ball in Week 1.
Going up against a Cincinnati Bengals defense that is no one’s idea of stout, the Browns managed just 49 rushing yards and two yards per carry behind the trio of veteran Jerome Ford and rookies Dylan Sampson and Raheim Sanders.
While Sanders did score a rushing touchdown, and Sampson had a solid debut with a team-high 93 yards of total offense, his numbers were inflated by catching eight passes for 64 yards. When
it came to running the ball, Sampson had team highs in carries (12) and rushing yards (29), which is not going to get the job done on a weekly basis.
Reinforcements should soon be on the way after running back Quinshon Judkins returned to the team this week after dealing with off-the-field legal issues. Judkins was in New York on Wednesday to talk with league officials as part of the NFL’s review of his case under the Personal Conduct Policy. He returned to practice on Thursday and is expected to practice again today.
That leaves the coaching staff with a big question about whether or not to have Judkins play on Sunday when the Browns face the Baltimore Ravens.
There has been much talk this week about how the Browns could play Judkins, but the real question is, should they go with a player who:
- Hasn’t been in a competitive game since late January;
- Missed all of training camp;
- Missed all of the preseason; and,
- Has only practiced with the team twice since the mandatory minicamp in June.
There is a reason why teams ramp up activity when training camp opens rather than throwing players into full-contact right out of the gate.
Just go back a few years to the 2020 season. The offseason programs were thrown into chaos due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that season saw a “significantly higher incidence of soft tissue injuries compared to the 2018-2019 regular NFL season, which may have been associated with the absent preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an abrupt increase in the athletic workload of players,” according to a study published by the HealthPartners Institute.
Going from working out on your own, to two practices, to an NFL game in the span of a few days certainly sounds like an “abrupt increase in the athletic workload.”
This is where we point out that Judkins is a 21-year-old athlete who should be rested and in good shape. And the NFL is filled with athletes who are in good shape and fully prepared, yet they still suffer injuries. So stuff happens.
But consider this when thinking about whether or not to play Judkins this Sunday vs. allowing him one more week to get up to speed:
- The best-case scenario is the Browns work Judkins into the game on Sunday in a limited fashion, everything goes well, and he is now ready for a full workload starting next week.
- The worst-case scenario is that Judkins suffers a hamstring or other soft-tissue injury and is out for the next 4-6 weeks.
Given that this is the Browns, which scenario do you think is more likely?
