Browns Coach Drops Intriguing 5-Word Comment on Quarterback Situation
The Cleveland Browns are making a quarterback change ahead of their Week 5 game in England against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Browns have benched Joe Flacco, and Dillon Gabriel will be making his first career start. Shedeur Sanders, meanwhile, will remain the inactive emergency third quarterback on the depth chart.
Although many fans are surprised that Sanders will remain inactive, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski opened up on the quarterback situation. He claimed that the team has been ‘very intentional about every minute’ with what Gabriel and Sanders have been doing.
“The big thing for us, it goes back to that intentionality of what we do,” Stefanski said. “That’s [quarterbacks coach] Bill Musgrave, that’s [offensive coordinator] Tommy Rees, that’s our player development team. Everybody understanding that we’re bringing our guys along. And it may, on one day, mean meetings, may, on one day, mean a physical individual drill — if you will, at practice, while this side’s doing this, these guys are doing that. So, just like, big picture being very intentional about every minute that you have.”
It’s clear that the Browns have had a plan for how they will handle the quarterback situation this season. Cleveland could look to get both Gabriel and Sanders starts this season, but for now, Gabriel will be the starter for the time being.
Gabriel Explains How He Stayed Ready
Gabriel spent the first four weeks as the backup quarterback, waiting for his chance.
Although Gabriel did get into two games, it was when the games were out of hand. But, during practices, Gabriel said he took every rep he could as he wanted to make sure he would be ready if the time came, he would start.
“Yeah, a lot of walk-throughs, a lot of meetings you got to be really tuned into,” Gabriel said to the media. “And then I think, just, you look at all the work, from beginning of OTAs and working minicamp to now. I think that’s all installation that you can really pride yourself on, and the reps built up. So moments that build up, and then to get here, but like I said, it’s extreme focus on just doing my job at a high level and continue to do that for one another.”
Gabriel has gone 3-for-4 for 19 yards and one touchdown in two games.
Browns Coach Explains How Sanders Can Earn Playing Time
Although Stefanski says the team has been very intentional in how they have handled the quarterback situation, many have wondered what Sanders needs to do to rise up the depth chart.
Stefanski says the rookie QB just needs to continue working hard in practice as he has been doing.
“All of our players, and I include Shedeur in this, are working extremely hard. We just finished our period after practice that we do every single day, just finished a red zone 7-on-7 period where Shedeur and the rest of the younger guys are working on 10 reps,” Stefanski said. “So, he needs to continue to do exactly what he’s been doing and continue to do what all these guys are doing, which is just keep working.”
Sanders was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Browns.
Patriots sign veteran offensive lineman as starter deals with knee injury
FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots are adding a veteran offensive lineman while a starter is nursing a lower-body injury to begin the week.
Patriots starting left guard Jared Wilson missed Wednesday’s practice due to an ankle and knee injury. The third-round pick won the Patriots’ job out of training camp and has played every offensive snap over the last three games.
After allowing a sack and two quarterback hits in Week 1, Wilson rebounded and didn’t allow a single quarterback hit in his last two games against Miami and Pittsburgh. If the rookie can’t play on Sunday, backup Ben Brown could be the next in line.
Brown was the main player rotating in with Wilson this summer at left guard. The Patriots also have Caedan Wallace on the 53-man roster.
With Wilson dealing with an injury, the Patriots also added a veteran offensive lineman, signing Royce Newman to the practice squad.
Newman, 28, entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2021. He started 16 games for the Packers as a rookie at the right guard position. Newman has started 24 of 52 games played over four NFL seasons. Last year, he played in one game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, playing three snaps at right tackle.
Over four seasons, Newman has experience at right guard (1,415 snaps), left guard (190 snaps), right tackle (112 snaps), and left tackle (one snap). He spent this past offseason in Arizona and was cut at the end of training camp.
Edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson also missed Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury. The 26-year-old has started all three games for the Patriots. He has 1.5 sacks to go with four quarterback hits this season. If Chaisson can’t play on Sunday, the Patriots would rely on Keion White and Anfernee Jennings.
The Patriots also signed undrafted free agent Gee Scott Jr. to their practice squad. Scott spent this offseason in New England.
Patriots injury report
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
LB K’Lavon Chaisson, Knee
G Jared Wilson, Ankle / Knee
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
DT Christian Barmore, Not Injury Related / Other
CB Christian Gonzalez, Hamstring
FULL PARTICIPATION
CB Carlton Davis III, Achilles
TE Hunter Henry, Knee
WR Mack Hollins, Hand
LB Anfernee Jennings, Hamstring
LB Marte Mapu, Neck
Mark Daniels has been on the Patriots beat since 2014. After working for the Providence Journal, he joined MassLive in 2022. Daniels has won awards for feature writing, column writing and general sports...
