CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins had a warning for left guard Joel Bitonio when the 12-year veteran offered him some advice.

“I was like, ‘Dude, everything else will happen, put football first,’ ” Bitonio recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Don’t tell me that, because then I won’t do anything but football.’ ”

Bitonio and Judkins are Oscar and Felix, an odd couple sharing locker space next to each other. Judkins credited Bitonio for all the help he’s given him.

“Ever since the first day I got here, he was one of the guys that I just jelled to naturally,” Judkins said on Friday. “I feel like, as a rookie, you more so try to find that guy in the locker room that you can relate to and show you how to do things the right way. And Joel was that guy for me.”

Judkins, in fact, asked Bitonio so many questions when he first arrived, it had Bitonio questioning himself.

“I had to kind of rethink what my process was,” Bitonio said. “He’s like, ‘What are you doing here?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, man, I haven’t even thought about that in a while.’ So just those types of things where he keeps my mind fresh.”

Bitonio will be without his locker mate the rest of the season. Judkins was carted off on Sunday against the Bills with a fractured right fibula and ankle dislocation. It happened on a reception out of the two-minute warning in the first half when Bills linebacker Matt Milano tackled him.

He should be back in four to five months after undergoing surgery, a league source told cleveland.com.

When Bitonio addressed the media after Sunday’s 23-20 loss, he didn’t know the extent of the injury or timeline, but he was confident in the rookie’s ability to get back on the field quickly.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s back ready to begin the year next year,” Bitonio said. “The guy works hard, he loves football, he wants to be out there. So he’ll make a push for it if everything’s medically able, he’ll do everything possible to be back out there.”

A candidate for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, Judkins saw his season get off to a rocky start.

He was arrested in July on battery/domestic violence charges. Prosecutors in South Florida declined to charge him in August, but he remained unsigned by the Browns through the length of training camp and didn’t sign his four-year rookie deal until the day before the season started.

Once he got on the field in Week 2 in Baltimore, he made an instant impact. He rushed for 347 yards and added 62 receiving yards in his first four games.

In a Week 7 win over Miami, he scored three rushing touchdowns.

The Browns leaned on Judkins in Wildcat formations, especially near the goal line, while breaking in rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

His season ends with 827 rushing yards, the fifth most by a Browns rookie. He currently leads all rookie running backs in rushing yards.

His success isn’t surprising to Browns veterans.

“You can tell he loves it,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “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.”

Seventh-year running back Trayveon Williams, who spent training camp with the Browns and signed back with them earlier this month, sees it with Judkins, too.

“He’s a guy who wants it,” Williams said. “He’s a guy who comes to work every day. He’s young and hungry and I hate it for him because he works his butt off every single day.”

Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, who helped replace Judkins on Sunday alongside Williams, is a year older than Judkins, but the undrafted free agent out of Auburn who the Browns claimed off waivers this summer, appreciates Judkins’ work ethic.

“Really sad for him,” Sanders said. “Just all the work he put in. That’s somebody I look up to.”

Sanders and Williams filled in admirably against the Bills. Sanders carried 11 times for 42 yards and added 4 yards receiving. Williams had three carries for 17 yards and four catches for 38 yards, including a 26-yard screen pass.

Williams said he planned to call Judkins later on Sunday.

“It’s all about how you react,” Williams said. “We play a game that’s 100% injury rate, and it sucks. People work their butts off, all of us. We work our whole life to be able to get to this moment, to be able to seize this moment, and it’s pretty devastating. I’m praying for him. Just tell him to keep his head up.”

Almost universally on Sunday, Judkins’ teammates had no doubt the rookie would be back stronger and better.

Bitonio has seen his drive from the start.

“I think he wants to be great,” Bitonio said. “I think he wants to be a top back in this league for a long time.”

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