Air carrier First Officer reported engine failure in cruise and return to departure airport.

Narrative

Was the pf; departed ZZZ and cleared up to 14;000. Eventually cleared up to our final altitude of fl280 in the level off as I was waiting for the plane to accelerate before ! pressed the cruise button. Nearing ZZZZZ we experienced a loud bang; the plane jolted and we got engine one out EICAS and rudder hard over protection fail. Captain was quick to react and turned the auto pilot off and directed me to start and emergency descent down to 10000 feet. Captain then communicated with ATC while i flew and he notified them of a return to ZZZ airport and [requested priority handling]. while in a constant descent; the Captain ran the QRH for engine out and then set up the airplane for the XXR ILS approach. He also communicated with the FA; passengers; company and ATC. Captain was thorough and efficient with completing all the necessary tasks while I focused on keeping positive control over the aircraft. He briefed the approach for me--the same approach we had shot the night prior so we were already familiar with it. Weather was clear and light winds from the south. While being vectored onto the final approach course we encountered a traffic alert from ATC and an aural alert and TCAS display for a small general aviation aircraft. We made visual contact and Captain directed me to climb a little to create separation. After we were clear of traffic we proceeded inbound and I shot the approach single engine and the plane handled well. We landed and exited onto a taxiway where the fire crew inspected our aircraft.After they said everything was clear we taxiied into the gate and the Captain made an announcement to inform the passengers of the situation. Fire crew checked with the Captain one last time to make sure everything was okay; it was. And the passengers deplaned giving gratitude to our crew for keeping them safe. Contract maintenance was also there and after a brief inspection of the plane; informed us they saw metal shrapnel inside the engine. Chief pilot asked us to continue flying that day and for the rest of our four day assignment. We had a 14 hour overnight in ZZZ that night and went into a max duty day of flying on Day 1.