Browns open training camp with rookie running back Judkins' status undetermined

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has to deal with uncertainty during training camp about a second-round draft pick for the second straight year because of an off-field incident.

Stefanski said the Browns were still gathering more information on Quinshon Judkins after the rookie running back was arrested on July 12 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on a charge of battery and domestic violence.

“These are things that we take very, very, very seriously. I know you guys will talk to (general manager) Andrew (Berry) tomorrow, but I don’t have much to add on that situation,” Stefanski said on Wednesday before the Browns held their first practice of camp.

A Broward County judge found probable cause for the misdemeanor charge in a hearing on July 12. Judkins was released after he posted $2,500 bond. The judge ordered Judkins not to be in contact with the alleged victim and no access to firearms.

Judkins was the 36th overall pick in the April draft after rushing for 1,060 yards and 14 touchdowns at Ohio State last season.

Cleveland selected Judkins hoping he could become the team’s lead running back after Nick Chubb signed with the Houston Texans. The Browns also drafted Dylan Sampson in the fourth round and still have Jerome Ford on the roster after he rushed for 565 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry last season.

Judkins and Cincinnati defensive end Shemar Stewart (the 17th overall pick) are the NFL's only unsigned draft picks.

Stefanski did say it was possible the Browns could add another running back depending on Judkins' future status.

Last year, Browns defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. — the team's second-round pick in 2024 — was arrested during training camp on a domestic violence charge. He pleaded his case down to disorderly conduct but was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list following the incident and suspended five games by the NFL.

Hall is opening training camp this year on the physically unable to perform list after suffering a knee injury in last season's final game at Baltimore.

“The league mandates a certain amount of education in all areas, certainly in this area, and we decide to go above and beyond that and we will continue to do that,” Stefanski said. “If there’s more ways that we can reach players in any area in area of education, we’ll continue to look at that.”

The biggest storyline of training camp and the three preseason games will be the four-way quarterback competition between Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

After Deshaun Watson ruptured his Achilles tendon for the second time in three months in January, Cleveland acquired Pickett in a trade from Philadelphia in March and signed Flacco in April. It drafted Gabriel in the third round and then moved up in the fifth round to take Sanders.

Stefanski did not give a timeline for when he would like to make a decision on who will be the starter in the Sept. 7 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I think with all things depth chart, certainly quarterback, I have a plan that’s in pencil and we have to take in information every single day, take in how guys are handling certain situations and then adjust from there,” he said.

“I think the big thing for me is putting our guys in position where we can evaluate them. I think they did a great job in the spring. All four of those guys will continue to put them in some situations, but ultimately we’d love to make a decisions sooner than later.”

Pickett, Dillon and Sanders took snaps during the 11-on-11 team period. Pickett was first up followed by the two rookies.

With most of the attention on quarterback, veteran guard Joel Bitonio is hoping the Browns can bounce back after finishing 3-14 last season after making the playoffs in 2023.

“I understand why the outside world wants to write us off because it makes sense from what you’re looking at the year before,” Bitonio said. “I think honestly every NFL team goes into training camp knowing they have a chance. We have a majority of our team back from two years ago when we went 11-6 and made the playoffs.”

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FILE - Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins (10) runs with the ball during NFL football minicamp in Berea, Ohio, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/David Richard, file)

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Gage Larvadain, left, is pursued by cornerback Tony Brown II (11) during a practice at the team's NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Gage Larvadain participates in a drill during a practice at the team's NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel (5) throws in front of quarterback Joe Flacco (15) during a practice at the team's NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski watches during a practice at the team's NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Renee Good ’s family is accusing federal immigration officers of killing the Minneapolis mother of three as she attempted to follow agents' instructions, and said Wednesday they have hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd ’s family to press for answers and accountability.

Her loved ones said in a statement they want Good, 37, remembered as “an agent of peace” and urged the public not to use her death as a political flashpoint, according to the Chicago-based firm Romanucci & Blandin. The firm said it is investigating Good's death and will release information in the coming weeks.

The family's decision to hire the firm came the same week the U.S. Justice Department said it sees no basis to open a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting. An FBI probe of Renee Good’s death is ongoing.

Roughly half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned this week, and several supervisors in the criminal section of the Civil Rights Division in Washington gave notice of their departures, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Trump administration has defended the ICE officer’s actions, saying he fired in self-defense while standing in front of Good’s vehicle as it began to move forward. That explanation has been panned by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.

Romanucci & Blandin said the family wants answers about the federal officers were doing on Jan. 7 in the neighborhood where Good was killed, as well as officers’ actions during the encounter and delays in medical aid after the shooting. The ICE agent who fired is Jonathan Ross, an Iraq War veteran who has served as a deportation officer since 2015.

Good’s partner, Becca Good, and other relatives say on Jan. 7 the couple had just dropped off their 6-year-old child at school and stopped to observe the law enforcement activity. Video shows a red SUV driven by Renee sitting perpendicular and blocking part of the road. She is pressing the horn repeatedly.

A short time later, a truck carrying immigration officers pulls up, two get out and one of them orders Renee Good to open her door. She reverses briefly, then turns the steering wheel toward the passenger side as the officer says again, “get out of the car.” Almost simultaneously, Becca, standing on the passenger side and trying to open the door, shouts, “drive, baby, drive!”

The SUV pulls forward and gunshots are heard as an officer who in front of the vehicle opens fire.

“What happened to Renee is wrong,” the firm said, adding that they intend to share their findings “on a rolling basis” because they believe the community is not receiving adequate information elsewhere. The firm, which helped secure a $27 million settlement for Floyd’s family, is now representing Becca Good as well as Renee Good's parents and siblings.

Becca Good released a statement to Minnesota Public Radio on Friday saying the couple had stopped to support their neighbors: “ We had whistles. They had guns.” Becca Good and her family have not responded to calls and messages from The Associated Press.

Becca Good has referred to Renee as her wife. The law firm said Renee and Becca were “not legally married but were committed partners dedicated to their family."

People attend a candlelight vigil at US Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, for US Citizen Renee Good, who was shot by ICE in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

A person walks past signage for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)