Jerome Ford’s 2025 NFL season came to a premature end on Tuesday when the Cleveland Browns placed the running back on injured reserve.
NFL rules require a player on injured reserve to miss a minimum of four games, and the Browns have four games remaining on their 2025 schedule, starting with the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The Browns said Ford has a shoulder injury.
Ford had been Cleveland’s leading rusher in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. But the addition of former Pike Road High School star Quinshon Judkins in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft reduced Ford’s role as a ball-carrier this season.
Ford’s 2025 total will be 73 yards on 24 carries after he ran for 813 yards and four touchdowns on 204 carries in 2023 and 565 yards and three touchdowns on 104 carries in 2024.
Ford also caught 26 passes for 103 yards and averaged 22.6 yards on 13 kickoff returns in 2025.
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Ford will become an unrestricted free agent in March unless the Browns re-sign him before then. Ford is in the final season of a four-year contract signed after the Browns selected him from Cincinnati in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Ford had that contract altered to stay with Cleveland in 2025. His original contract called for Ford to be paid $3.486 million this season. But that salary was not guaranteed, and the running back accepted a pay cut to a guaranteed $1.75 million to remain with the Browns this season.
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Ford played at Alabama in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He ran for 151 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries and caught two passes for 11 yards while playing behind future NFL running backs Damien Harris, Josh Jacobs, Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. In two seasons at Cincinnati, Ford ran for 1,802 yards and 27 touchdowns on 214 carries and caught 29 passes for 271 yards and one touchdown.
In 57 games with the Browns, including 18 starts, Ford ran for 1,463 yards and seven touchdowns on 340 carries, caught 107 passes for 647 yards and five touchdowns and averaged 24.2 yards on 58 kickoff returns.