Quinshon Judkins injury on Sunday was not a sight anyone wanted to see, especially Cleveland Browns fans, who have already been through yet another tough season. Judkins suffered a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle when he was awkwardly tackled late in the second quarter against the Bills on Sunday.
The Browns delivered a positive update via their social media accounts on Judkins on Tuesday afternoon. They confirmed that he underwent a successful surgery to repair both his fibula and ankle. Now, the recovery process begins.
Judkins was having a great rookie season before the injury. He had accumulated 827 yards on the ground with seven touchdowns to go along with it, and was also a factor in the passing game, where he had 26 receptions.
It’s a disheartening end to what was a promising rookie campaign for the second-round draft pick, but on the positive side, Cleveland may have it’s running back of the future in Judkins.
Hopefully he makes a full recovery and can take the field for the start of the 2026 season.
Potential Timeline For Judkins Return to Football
Considering Judkins had a clean break in his fibula and he severely dislocated his ankle, the recovery process may be extended considering he’ll be rehabbing two different areas on the same leg. The positive spin on it is that he effectively has nine months before the Browns play another meaningful football game.
Fibula fractures for NFL players are typically anywhere between a two and four month recovery process, depending on the severity of the break and the player’s urgency to return (if this happened early in the season and the Browns were competitive, maybe Judkins could have returned in the same season).
With the ankle also needing rehab, my guess is that it will be the first course of action in the recovery process. It’ll be hard to do rehab on the fibula if the ankle isn’t solid.
So to be conservative, the best guess at a timeline for a full recovery from both injuries would probably be around five months. That would put him back at full health around May or June of 2026, in time for a full training camp leading into the season.
Of course that’s just a prediction; Cleveland will surely issue more updates throughout the offseason on how he’s progressing.
Cleveland in Line For a Top Selection in 2026 NFL Draft
The Browns are once again going to be picking at the top of the NFL Draft. At 3-12, they’re tied for the No. 3 pick with the New York Jets and the Tennessee Titans, while the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants are tied for the No. 1 pick at 2-12.
The question now is what does Cleveland do with that pick, which will be in the top five in all likelihood. The jury is still out on both Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, but do the Browns really want to spend a premium pick on another quarterback? It isn’t a strong QB class outside of Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore, who will both probably be gone before the Browns pick.
Either way, all sights are set towards April of 2026 at this point for Cleveland fans.
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