Just two touches into his football career and Cleveland Browns rookie running back Duke Johnson has suffered a concussion. It happened Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when the third-round pick attempted to make a catch on a Josh McCown pass.
This isn't necessarily the way Cleveland envisioned Johnson's career starting. Missing the first two games of the preseason with a hamstring injury, this was the rookie's first opportunity to impress his coaching staff in live-game action.
It was expected that Johnson might receive a bulk of the touches in an uncertain Browns backfield:
Prior to the injury, Browns head coach Mike Pettine indicated that the Miami (F) product was looking explosive in practice. The coach couldn't give an update regarding Johnson's injury, instead confirming that he had indeed suffered a concussion.
With both Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West struggling thus far this preseason, Johnson was given a chance to start on Saturday. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen whether he will be available for Week 1. The young running back will have to go through the league's concussion protocal before returning to action of any kind.
Interestingly, Pettine refused to rule out the possibility that Cleveland might sign Ray Rice. The veteran running back has been linked to the Browns over the past several weeks.
From a fantasy perspective, Cleveland's trio of running backs represent nothing more than late-round adds. Without a firm indication of who is going to get a bulk of the touches, this could be an area of concern for fantasy owners. The best bet is avoiding all three and seeing who the carries trend to early in the season.