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Dylan Sampson placed on injured reserve after knee injury in Browns opener
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- Dylan Sampson placed on injured reserve after knee injury in Browns opener
Dylan Sampson 's knee injury in the season opener is severe enough that the Browns have placed the running back/kick returner on injured reserve.
Sampson sustained the knee injury on his second kickoff return in the Browns ' season-opening loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars . After going to the locker room to have it examined, he came back out and tested it out on the sidelines before he was officially ruled out.
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"Definitely hard, because he's a brother," running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders said Sept. 14. "He [is] a part of the running back room, so he [is] a brother and I knew him before then. So just the outside relationship we have, not just in the building, but outside the building, of course, that was a hard one."
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The Browns signed Jaleel McLaughlin to the active roster from the practice squad to take Sampson's place. Cleveland also signed running back Eric Gray , offensive tackle Obinna Eze , punter Wes Pahl and offensive tackle Xavier Truss to the practice squad and released CB D'Angelo Ross and DT Chris Williams from the practice squad.
Sampson had shown explosiveness with a 32-yard average on his two kickoff returns, including a 37-yarder on the opening kickoff of the season.
Sanders replaced Sampson as both the No. 2 running back and one of the two kickoff return men. Sanders averaged 43.3 yards on three kickoff returns, including a 74-yard return.
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"I'm just being where my feet are really, and just when my name get called, just be ready," Sanders said. "And then as my running back coach continued to teach how he used to be, just being ready. I just continued to learn in the room and to know all the plays so I can get put at any position."
The Browns averaged 38 yards as a team on six kickoff returns against the Jaguars. They were twice flagged for holding on returns.
One of those two was the 27-yard return on which Sampson was injured. The other was a 37-yard Sanders return.
"Well, first off, the opening kickoff return that we had, that got us to the 40 and got us, we had a couple first downs, and, heck, we're in field goal range and we're going to take the lead," Browns coach Todd Monken said Sept. 14. "And then obviously Rocket had the second kickoff return that gave us our first points. We didn't capitalize on it, but we also had two holding calls on two kickoff returns that kept us inside the 20.
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"So, obviously, you want to keep going down the road of the explosive part of it, and our guys blocking their rear ends off, but obviously the penalties [hurt]."
Sampson, a fourth-round pick in 2025 out of the University of Tennessee, has appeared in 16 career games. He has 175 career rushing yards on 65 attempts, while adding 33 receptions for 271 yards with two touchdowns.
The 5-foot-7, 187-pound McLaughlin is in his fourth season out of Youngstown State. Originally a 2023 undrafted free agent signed by the Denver Broncos , McLaughlin has appeared in 41 games with the Broncos, with 226 career rushes for 1,093 yards with three touchdowns, along with 59 receptions for 263 yards and four scores.
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Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Dylan Sampson placed on injured reserve after knee injury in Browns opener
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