Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson left Sunday’s 29-12 loss to the Broncos with a concussion after taking a hard hit at the end of a pass play.
With Cleveland trailing 17-12 just before the end of the third quarter, Thompson-Robinson exited the game after he was hit while throwing an incompletion and went to the ground hard, taking an extra moment to get up.
Broncos linebacker Baron Browning was called for a roughing the passer penalty. Thompson-Robinson was eventually able to walk off the field under his own power and went to the medical tent, with the broadcast appearing to show him sporting a bloody mouth. He subsequently walked to the locker room with a towel over his head and was later ruled out.
“There’s obviously, like all of our guys, some good, some bad, some stuff we can learn from,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said after the game. “He’s battling, as you know, took a shot there unfortunately and you never want to see your quarterback get hit like that, but he battled.”
Backup quarterback P.J. Walker entered the game in relief and was the only QB available as third-stringer Joe Flacco was not activated.
The Browns face the Los Angeles Rams in Week 13 and DTR’s status is obviously to be determined. Asked if he could see Flacco filling in, Stefanski was non-committal.
“I’m not there yet,” he said, via 92.3 The Fan. “We’ll see.”
Thompson-Robinson was starting his third game for the Browns this season, having had a spot start with Deshaun Watson injured in Week 4, and then was named the starter for Week 11 after Watson was shut down for the year with a shoulder fracture that required surgery.
Before exiting the game, Thompson-Robinson was 14-for-29 passing for 134 yards, having led the Browns on a touchdown drive on the team’s last possession (they missed the two-point conversion).
In his five appearances this season, the rookie out of UCLA was 58-of-109 passing for 429 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.
Walker has also started two games for the Browns this year (five appearances heading in Sunday), and though he led two game-winning drives, he had five interceptions, partially contributing to the Browns’ decision to go with Thompson-Robinson after Watson’s diagnosis. Walker finished out the final quarter having gone 6-of-13 passing for 56 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.