Browns’ No. 2 running back placed on injured reserve for at least 4 games as their sluggish rushing attack takes another hit

Browns541/54Cleveland Browns vs. New York Jets, October 11, 2026By Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland.comCLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns’ sluggish running game took another hit on Tuesday as they gear up for a showdown with the first-place Ravens on Sunday.No. 2 back Raheim Sanders was placed on injured reserve for at least four weeks with the hip injury suffered during Sunday’s 17-12 loss to the Jets.It means he’ll miss at least the Ravens game and then the three road games the Browns have coming up next at Tennessee, Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Sanders hasn’t been used much in the running game this season, rushing only nine time for 43 yards (4.8 average). But he’s caught 11 of 12 targets for 74 yards, and was a key component of the screen game. Browns urged to get creative with Taylen Green after Jets lossBrowns prep for Ravens, Guardians ALCS Game 2 preview: Tuesday’s Sports 4 CLEBrowns' late-game rushing woes cost them in loss to JetsTo make up for the loss, the Browns signed running back Audric Estime off the Vikings practice. Estime (5-11, 227) is in his third NFL season out of Notre Dame. Originally drafted by Denver in the fifth round in 2024, Estime has appeared in 20 career games with the Broncos (2024) and Saints (2025). He has 122 career carries for 508 yards and three touchdowns and 17 receptions for 170 yards. Estime will wear No. 36.The loss of Sanders is compounded by the fact that No. 1 running back Quinshon Judkins tweaked his ankle during the Jets game and he left MetLife Stadium in a right walking boot. That’s the same ankle that Judkins dislocated last year on Dec. 21 against the Bills and had surgically repaired. He also fractured his fibula at the same time, so the sight of him hobbling in a boot is unsettling for the club. Todd Monken hasn’t ruled him out for the Ravens game, but he might rest or be limited in practice this week. Judkins leads the Browns with 221 yards on 73 carries for a 3.0 average with a long gain of 14. The yardage is 30th in the NFL, and the average is 41st. Behind the overhauled offensive line, Judkins has been tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage 50% of the time, and 31% of his runs have gone for no gain or 1 yard. Against the Jets, he rushed 14 times for 44 yards for a 3.1-yard average, and Monken lamented the lack of a running game after the loss. In the fourth quarter when they needed to preserve their 12-10 lead, they couldn’t do it, in part because of the lack of a ground game. “We’re still trying to figure out in a lot of ways who we are offensively, what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are as players, collectively as a staff,” Todd Monken said. So, we’re always under construction, and that’s always subject to change in terms of what we feel like gives us the best chance to move the ball, run or pass.”He also noted that the Browns are prepared to shift away from so much shotgun if they must, which may be hurting the running game. But the Browns transitioned to more of a shotgun-heavy, spread-oriented offense over the past several weeks to maximize Deshaun Watson’s strengths. “Certainly we’re capable of pivoting what we feel like is best for us moving forward,” Monken said. “There’s more to it than just that. But we were playing Tampa four weeks ago, we were under center, and they were pressuring us, and then we got in the gun and we had some success, and we were running it and we’re throwing it, we’re getting the ball out of his hands. “And each week you’re pivoting. You want to have enough in your offense to not be pigeonholed as to one way to be able to move the football. And it’s not in stone, it’s in sand. And we’re going to do what we feel like we need to do, even moving forward. Did we see that coming the other day? No. But that’s what you do. You learn from it, you own it, you fight like hell to fix it, and you move on.” Monken acknowledged that it was “advantageous” to have star running back Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson running the ball for him in Baltimore the previous three years, but still feels fortunate to have Judkins and a two-play quarterback in Watson. Still, he knows they have to pull out all the stops to elevate the 20th-ranked rushing attack. “It’s never just one thing,” he said. “It’s scheming. It’s us running off the football. It’s executing at a much higher level than we are right now. And until we do that, we will struggle. And it really wasn’t that way at Pittsburgh. I felt like we’d made some strides, and the Jets have a good front, and we just didn’t execute and certainly didn’t coach it well enough.”On a brighter note for the Browns, their full-time No. 2 back Dylan Sampson is eligible to be designated for return from injured reserve with his knee injury this week, and Monken said it’s a possibility. Arguably the Browns’ most dynamic runner, Sampson might not be activated to the 53-man roster in time to face the Ravens, but it’s great news for the Browns that he’s getting closer. Mary Kay Cabot has more than 30 years experience covering the Cleveland Browns for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com, and became only the second female in Pro Football Hall of Fame history to win the Bill Nunn...