Browns running back Dylan Sampson suffered a knee injury in Cleveland’s Week 1 loss to the Jaguars that is expected to sideline him for a significant amount of time, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Sampson, who turned 22 years old today, left the field in the first quarter of Sunday’s game and was ruled out before halftime. He only played two snaps before going down – both kick returns, including a 37-yarder to open the game – indicating he sustained the injury on his second.
The 2025 fourth-round pick averaged just 2.7 yards per carry as a rookie, but he reeled in 33 of his 40 targets for 271 receiving yards. That set him up to enter the 2026 season in as the third-down back with fellow 2025 draftee Quinshon Judkins expected to shoulder the bulk of the rushing work. But the Browns quickly fell into a deficit in Jacksonville, limiting Judkins to just 12 carries and two catches out of the backfield. Raheim Sanders, a second-year UDFA, stepped into Sampson’s pass-catching role and brought in all three of his targets for 25 yards.
Sanders, 24, will now be in line for even more work during Sampson’s absence. He only appeared in four games as a rookie with just 113 yards on 30 touches, but he could quickly eclipse those numbers in the coming weeks, especially if Cleveland continues to play from behind.
The Browns do not have a fourth running back on their 53-man roster. If Sampson’s injury is not as serious as initially reported, the team can probable get by with practice squad elevations for Jaleel McLaughlin, who averaged 4.8 yards per carry over the last three seasons with the Broncos. However, he was less prolific through the air, averaging just 4.5 yards per reception, and has returned just one kickoff in his career. If Sampson is placed on injured reserve, Cleveland could consider signing a running back who more neatly fills his vacated role.