The Jacksonville Jaguars mopped the Cleveland Browns by a score of 34-10 in the season opener, and the news got even worse after the game was over.
Running back Dylan Sampson, a second-year player with a knack for making dynamic plays out of the backfield in the pass game, left the contest early in the first half with a knee injury.
And while it will likely be Monday before the team confirms the precise nature of Sampson’s issue, reports out of the visitor’s locker room in Jacksonville were more than a little discouraging.
“#Browns Dylan Sampson on crutches after game, brace on left knee,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported via X on Sunday, September 13.
Sampson, a fourth-round pick in 2025, tallied 65 rushing attempts for 175 yards during his rookie campaign. He added 33 catches for 271 yards and two scores on 40 targets in the pass game.
Browns Struggled to Establish Run Game in Season Opener Against Jaguars
The ground game in general was a disaster for Cleveland on Sunday, as quarterback Deshaun Watson led the way with six carries for 38 yards.
Starter Quinshon Judkins, who played his first regular season football since fracturing his right fibula and dislocating his ankle late last year, logged 12 attempts and gained just 33 yards. He added two catches for 17 yards through the air.
Rookie wide receiver KC Concepcion added three carries for 15 yards, while Raheim Sanders added one rushing attempt for a single yard.
The Browns finished the day with 87 yards on 22 carries for an average of 4.0 yards per rush.
Raheim Sanders Likely to Replace Dylan Sampson as RB2 Based on Seriousness of Injury
Sanders, an undrafted rookie in 2025 out of South Carolina, will step into the RB2 role behind Judkins if Sampson’s injury is serious enough to sideline him for any portion of time, which Cabot’s visual report indicates it is.
Sanders appeared in four games for the Browns last season, earning a single start. He tallied 27 rushes for 92 yards and one TD, adding three catches for 21 yards on four targets.
Browns first-year head coach Todd Monken also showed an affinity for using Concepcion in certain run concepts, which is something Browns fans can likely expect to see more of as the team tries to get the football into the explosive first-round playmaker’s hands as often as possible.
Browns Get Bad News on Injured RB Dylan Sampson After Loss to Jaguars