CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins will undergo surgery at University Hospitals on Tuesday to repair his dislocated right ankle and fractured fibula, and coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday he’s expected to make a full recovery.

“Like we talked about last night, knowing the kid, he’ll bounce back better than ever,” Stefanski said. “So disappointed for him, but he’s in good hands and he will bounce back.”

Stefanski also clarified that Judkins, the Browns’ leading rusher with 827 yards and 7 TDs, did not suffer any knee damage during the injury, which occurred with 1:49 left in the first half of Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Bills.

But Judkins, who will be placed on injured reserve as soon as Tuesday, should be back practicing within 4-5 months, a league source told cleveland.com. It means he should be able to participate in organized team activities in May at least on a limited basis, and be ready for the start of the 2026 season.

Judkins’ foot bent the wrong way in such gruesome fashion that CBS refused to show the replay. He was placed in an air cast and carted off the field. But in terms of injuries of this nature, Judkins experienced the best-case scenario, a source said.

In the locker room after the game, his teammates were just as upset about the injury as they were the loss.

“Yeah that’s my dawg,” said running back Dylan Sampson, who sat out the game with a right hand injury. “We came in here together, great relationship, I’ve got his back. You don’t ever want to see your brother go down, anybody on this team go down like that, but we spend so much time together.

“It’s moments like that, where you just think about, ‘Man, we were just hyping each other up before the game.’ I thought about it the whole game. It didn’t leave my mind, so man, I talked to him after, I gave him a hug. I’m praying for him. That’s my boy. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

He said Judkins was “as good as he can be from that state. I just told him I’ve got his back … He’s strong. I believe in him and I know he’ll come back strong but he’s going to have to go through this, and I’m going to have his back, and everybody around this building will have his back too.”

In the absence of Judkins, Sampson and Jerome Ford, who’s on injured reserve for the season with a shoulder injury, the Browns turned to Raheim Sanders (11 for 42 yards) and Travyeon Williams (3 for 17 yards) to finish out the game. If Sampson isn’t ready for Sunday’s visit from the Steelers, Sanders and Williams will likely share the load again.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders lamented the loss of his good friend and draft classmate for the season, which consists of games against the Steelers Sunday at home, and the Bengals the following week on the road.

“It really hurt that Quinshon went down,” he said. “Me and Quinshon was in the room talking yesterday till like 11-11:30, just like just about life, just about everything. Just building that bond with the rookie class, having that be the new energy, and staying on track with everything.”

He was sad that he threw the pass that resulted in Judkins’ injury.

“I’m like, ‘Back side, I can’t throw this slant, they’re covering it,’ ” he said. “So (Judkins) was my only option. I feel bad because I threw it. Truthfully, it hurts.”

Judkins had already won over Browns All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett with his relentless running style and warrior work ethic.

“Young guy is tough,” Garrett said. “You can tell he loves it. You can tell he wants to be great. He’s always coming up to me or some of the other older guys, some of the veterans and just trying to get a little bit of knowledge here and there.

“And someone who just has that kind of passion for the game and dawg in him who just attacks every single day, I can’t be more excited to play with someone like that. So I’m praying for his recovery as quick as possible and he just takes some necessary steps and he’s back on the field as soon as possible, but healthy as possible.”

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