Former UCLA Bruins quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson will continue to start for the Cleveland Browns, as long as his calf injury doesn’t keep him out of the lineup, with Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski saying that the UCLA product will “should be” good to go for Cleveland’s Week 17 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
Thompson-Robinson injured his calf during the Browns’ 24-6 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday that dropped Cleveland to 3-12 on the season. Thompson-Robinson is in his second NFL season after the Browns drafted him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. Since then, he’s recorded one touchdown in 13 career games (four starts) while throwing nine interceptions.
“They pressured us, we need to do a better job in a bunch of different areas but bottom line, we have to take care of the football,” Stefanski said when asked about Thompson-Robinson’s performance. “I thought he made some plays with his feet certainly.”
With Deshaun Watson recovering from a ruptured achilles and Jameis Winston dealing with a shoulder injury, Bailey Zappe and Thompson-Robinson are the only healthy quarterbacks on the Browns’ active roster. Despite playing through the calf injury that he suffered earlier this week, Thompson-Robinson didn’t miss a snap in Sunday’s loss, going 20-34 for 157 yards with two interceptions and adding 49 yards on the ground off of nine carries.
“It’s been bothering me for a few days, just try to play through it,” Thompson-Robinson said, while dismissing any notion that he’d miss time with the injury. “I’m playing any and every game. I’m practicing every snap, every walkthrough, every meeting.”
Thompson-Robinson played with UCLA from 2018-2022, totaling over 10,000 passing yards and recording 116 total touchdowns.