CLEVELAND, Ohio - The feel-good, hometown-hero story of Brian Hoyer took a cruel turn Thursday night when he suffered a potential season-ending right knee injury in the first quarter of the Browns' 37-24 victory over the Bills at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Hoyer hobbled out of the stadium on crutches and wearing a full brace on his right leg and didn't put any weight on it. Coach Rob Chudzinski told NFL Network at halftime that he feared Hoyer might have torn ligaments in the knee, which could end his season.

After the game, Chudzinski said that Hoyer's injury was a sprain, and that he'll have an MRI on Friday. He would not elaborate on his halftime remarks that he feared torn ligaments.

But the never-say-die Browns put on a thrilling performance in Hoyer's absence, pulling away with Brandon Weeden at quarterback for the victory, their third straight. It improved the Browns to 3-2 and all alone in first in the AFC North -- at least for a few days.

"We definitely don't want to see any teammates go down like that, especially Hoyer, man,'' said Browns receiver Josh Gordon, who caught a 37-yard touchdown pass and a clutch 18-yarder on a late field goal drive that put the game out of reach.

"It was heartbreaking. He's a great guy. I hope he comes back healthy. Deflated? No, if anything it fired us up, because we had to bounce back from it. People were expecting great things from this team, and we just couldn't hold our heads down and quit from that point and let everybody down, so we had to come out here and prove something.''

Weeden, who practiced only one full day this week after recovering from his sprained thumb, put on a gutsy performance after losing his starting job to Hoyer. He threw a crucial 37-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon in the third quarter, and received a huge hug on the sidelines from Chudzinski in the final minutes of the game. Weeden finished 13-of-24 for 197 yards and the one TD pass. He was also sacked five times. But the Browns scored the final 20 points of the game, and Weeden produced 13 of them.

"I can't say enough about Brandon coming in, and in the situation he did, not having practice a lot this week, and being able to play the way he did and get the job done,'' Chudzinski said.

At halftime, Weeden -- who learned Wednesday he'd be the backup -- came into the locker to see how Hoyer was doing, and wished him luck.

"I hope the best for him,'' said Weeden. "He was playing great. He was playing outstanding, doing some great things for this offense and you hate to see it because he's a teammate and friend and he was playing really well to help this team win.''

After the game, long after Hoyer could have left the stadium and been at home resting, he was still in the locker room to cheer on his teammates.

"He's a team guy,'' said Weeden. "He wanted to be there, and that says a lot about him and the character he has. I can't really put it into words. It's a tough situation.''

Weeden, who was 0-2 as a starter this season, made some big plays when needed, such as the 37-yarder to Gordon and an 18-yarder to Gordon third down that made it 30-24 with 2:19 left in the game and gave him some breathing room.

But he didn't really exhale until Ward picked off the rookie quarterback and sprinted to the end zone, where he leaped into the stands. Weeden received a huge hug on the sidelines from Chudzinski after Ward preserved the victory.

"The look on his face when T.J. got the interception, it was like relief,'' said Cameron. "He was just like, 'Thank you.' He overcame a lot. It's been a rough couple of weeks and he did a great job. He came in and made some big plays in big parts of the game. I've always had 100 percent confidence in him and his abilities. The opportunities were there and he kind of stepped up huge in a prime-time came and made huge plays in key points in the game.''

Hoyer wasn't the only casualty the Browns suffered during the game. Fullback Chris Ogbonnaya left the game with what Chudzinski said was a concussion; and defensive end Desmond Bryant was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for observation after suffering shortness of breath during the game. All three injuries will be re-evaluated Friday.

"I don't want to be too premature,'' Chudzinski said of Hoyer's status. "Let's wait and see what the MRI says.''

Everyone in Browns town is hoping it's not as bad as it looked.

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