New Quinshon Judkins injury update, expected status for next year revealed

Quinshon Judkins has had an outstanding rookie season despite the uncertainty of the offense around him, especially in front of him on the offensive line. Unfortunately for Judkins, he suffered a season-ending injury in the Browns' loss to the Buffalo Bills.

An injury that was very gruesome to see, CBS declined to show the replay of it that had Judkins' right foot in a horrid position. Many Browns fans were concerned about Judkins' career health after the saddening news.

Recently, Dr. Jesse Morse went over the Judkins injury, into the specifics of what happened to him and how his injury compares to the likes of Cam Skattebo and Tyreek Hill.

Judkins was diagnosed with a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle officially. Dr. Morse says that in this case, it was the best-case scenario for Judkins. He expects the rookie running back to make a full recovery, be ready for OTAs, and be fully healthy for Week 1 of 2026.

Quinshon Judkins’ injury was a ‘best case scenario’ thanks to no knee injury.

He’ll be ready for OTAs and should be close to 100% come Week 1 2026 like nothing ever happened.

This is a much better situation than the ankle injuries to Isiah Pacheco, Tony Pollard, Mark Andrews,… https://t.co/UhVUPsbjkv
— Jesse Morse, M.D. (@DrJesseMorse) December 23, 2025

The bright spot in this news is that Judkins did not suffer any damage to his knee, different than injuries like Tyreek Hill earlier this year, and Tank Dell, who suffered a torn ACL, MCL, LCL, and meniscus damage. A knee injury in this case would be catastrophic, according to Morse.

Morse details that the severity of Judkins' wound is less than that of Skattebo’s, as Skattebo’s bone pierced through his skin, so his wound would be more likely to get infected; other than that aspect, it is similar.

It was reported on December 23rd that Judkins underwent successful surgery to repair the fractured fibula and ankle dislocation by the Browns. The expected recovery time is four to six months, which will put him at just around June to be back playing football.

Cleveland should take two things away from this: first, do not rush him back in any facet. Let Judkins heal the best he can, and do not risk any setbacks.

The second is that they need to build in front of him on the offensive line. The Browns' line this year was very injured and all around one of the worst in the league. The way you can prevent any more injuries from happening is by building up the players who block for Judkins.

This could mean drafting at least a couple of linemen, definitely one in the first round, and also seeing if there are any options in free agency.