Insider Reveals Browns’ Response to Shedeur Sanders ‘Public Pressure’
(Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - SEPTEMBER 28: Shedeur Sanders #12 of the Cleveland Browns looks on against the Detroit Lions during the fourth quarter at Ford Field on September 28, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
For the Browns, it is a mostly hopeless situation at this point, no matter what decision the team makes next at quarterback. They want to keep Dillon Gabriel going as the starter, despite the fact that his struggles seem to be getting worse with each start, not better. He has completed only 58.6% of his passes and is averaging just 170.0 yards passing per game, for a rating of 80.4.
At Pro Football Focus, Gabriel has notched a grade of 49.9, which ranks 37th out of 37 graded quarterbacks this season.
The choice, then, is to stick with Gabriel and continue to watch his conservative yet inefficient style, or to pull the plug on him and essentially admit that the five games with him at the helm were a wasteful experiment. Making matters more untenable for the Browns is that QB2 Shedeur Sanders is in the background, and there has been a rising call for him to get a shot at the job.
Shedeur Sanders Pressure Mounts on Browns
That public pressure has been there for much of the season, but has gotten more intense and more widespread–you’d be hard-pressed to find a talking head on the national sports scene who has not taken a swipe at the Browns for their mismanagement of the quarterbacking situation and their unwarranted devotion to Gabriel.
Publicly, the Browns remain committed to starting Gabriel. Coach Kevin Stefanski was asked, as he always is, about the possibility of playing Sanders this week, and he demurred as he always does. He’s sticking with Gabriel.
Browns Not ‘Eager’ to Play Shedeur Sanders
If Browns fans are hoping that, behind the scenes, there is a shift going on that could result in Gabriel finally being benched and Sanders being elevated to starter, well they got some bad news from ESPN league insider Jeremy Fowler.
He wrote on Wednesday: “Coming out of the Week 9 bye, the Browns’ plan was to give Dillon Gabriel a fairly long runway of games to evaluate what they have in him. But as we see with young quarterbacks and teams in transition all the time, those plans can change.
“The public pressure in Cleveland is mounting. But I simply haven’t sensed that the Browns have been eager to turn to Shedeur Sanders.”
Offense Must Improve ‘Globally’
And so we can expect to see more Gabriel in the future. Certainly, he will be on the field in Week 11 against the Ravens, a team that has won three straight and is finally getting its defense together–Baltimore has held four straight foes below 20 points.
It will take a better overall effort offensively, not just from Gabriel, to hang with the Ravens, Stefanski said.
“It’s our job as coaches and certainly the players to go be productive on offense,” Stefanski said. “And it’s very, I understand that a lot of the focus goes to the quarterback position, but I look at it also globally and try to look at ways that we can improve across the board, whether it’s how we’re designing some of those plays, who were putting in those spots in some of those plays. I think that’s as big a part of it as well.”
Former Giants HC Brian Daboll Sparks Social Media Frenzy After “Begging for a Second Chance” With Bills Following His Firing
East Rutherford, November 11, 2025 – Just hours after being dramatically fired by the New York Giants on Tuesday morning, former head coach
Buffalo Bills, the team where he reached the peak of his career as offensive coordinator (OC) before departing in 2022.
“Thank you, Giants, for the four-year ride. But if Sean McDermott has a spare seat on the bus in Orchard Park, I’m ready to hold the play sheet again — as long as I can call plays for Josh Allen one more time. #BillsMafia, can I come home?”
Attached was a throwback photo of Daboll and Josh Allen from the 2021 playoffs, alongside the hashtag #TakeMeBackToBuffalo, which rocketed to the No. 3 trending topic globally within 90 minutes.
The Bills Mafia responded like fireworks: over 120,000 likes, 25,000 retweets, and a flood of “Daboll coming home” memes filled X timelines. One fan joked, “You left us for New York — fine. But if you’re coming back, bring wings for the whole team!”
Meanwhile, Giants fans blasted the move as “the ultimate betrayal.” One viral comment read: “Got fired and went crawling back to Buffalo? Big Blue really can’t keep anyone.”
Daboll was once hailed as the offensive mastermind who elevated the
Bills from mediocrity to Super Bowl contention between 2018–2021, guiding Josh Allen’s rise and helping Buffalo post a 49–31 record under Sean McDermott. He left in 2022 to become the Giants’ HC on a five-year deal and led them to the playoffs in his debut season (9–7–1, Wild Card win). But the following years spiraled downward:
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills are surging at 6–3, with their offense thriving under OC
Joe Brady, Daboll’s successor. Head coach Sean McDermott hasn’t commented publicly, but sources told The Athletic he “laughed out loud” upon seeing the post and told staff, “That’s classic Daboll — always knows how to make a scene.”
That reply instantly pushed
#DabollBackToBuffalo to No. 1 trending in the U.S., turning a firing story into one of the most viral moments of the 2025 NFL season.
At 50, Daboll is now one of the league’s most intriguing free agents. While the
Steelers and Raiders have reportedly reached out regarding OC openings, his heartfelt post reignited nostalgia among Bills Mafia — and transformed a career setback into a public love letter to Buffalo.
As the Giants brace for a full rebuild, Daboll seems ready to begin his next chapter — perhaps right back where it all began.
