CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins was activated to the active roster Saturday, clearing the way for him to make his NFL debut against the Baltimore Ravens.
The second-round pick was on a roster exemption after signing his contract on Sept. 6. To make room for Judkins, Cleveland waived wide receiver Gage Larvadain.
“I feel good. Just still taking day by day in the playbook, learning everything I need to know in case I have to play,” Judkins said on Friday. “As a competitor, you want to go out there and do your best every single day you step on the field. So if I have to play, I’m going to give it my all.”
Judkins missed all of training camp after he was accused of domestic violence in Florida in July. Prosecutors declined to pursue a case against him on Aug. 14 following a state attorney’s office investigation that found inconsistencies in the accuser’s story.
Coach Kevin Stefanski said that Judkins has done a nice job trying to get up to speed, but wanted to see how he progressed throughout the week before making a determination on his status.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do up to this point,” Stefanski said. “There’s football shape, and once you get in pads and get hit a little bit, that’s different than working out prior. But I do think he’s in good shape.”
Stefanski and the Browns are looking for improvement in the run game after gaining only 49 yards on 24 carries in last week’s 17-16 loss to Cincinnati.
The Browns drafted Judkins with the 36th overall pick in hopes he could become their main running back after he helped the Buckeyes win the national championship last season. Judkins rushed for 1,060 yards and had 16 total touchdowns.
Cleveland also has fourth-round pick Dylan Sampson and four-year veteran Jerome Ford in the backfield.
The Browns will face a Baltimore defense on Sunday that allowed the fewest rushing yards in the league last season at 80.1 yards per game. However, Cleveland has rushed for at least 100 yards in six of 10 meetings against the Ravens since Stefanski became coach in 2020.
Baltimore is also 0-1 after a 41-40 loss at Buffalo last week.
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said that Judkins has done a good job of retaining knowledge of the playbook from spring workouts, but one advantage is that things are limited once teams get into game weeks.
“You have a finite number of plays within a game plan, there will be carryover in terms of the terminology,” Rees said. “So, for him it’s really focused on, all right, we have a new playbook for this week’s opponent, let’s try to master that instead of saying, here’s our seven installs at training camp. That’s a little bit more daunting than one game plan.”
