Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has been clear that Dillon Gabriel will remain the starting quarterback following the team’s Week 9 bye, saying last week that finding a way to get Shedeur Sanders live game action was not his “focus.”
Sanders has worked his way up from a fifth-round draft pick who started training camp as QB4 into the position of backup QB behind Gabriel. And while some cracks have shown over the year — with Sanders saying earlier in the season that he could play at a higher level than several current starters and adding last week that it wasn’t his decision to go inactive with a back injury ahead of the team’s game against the New England Patriots — the young QB has, for the most part, played the role of good soldier when speaking with the media.
However, Sanders got creative with his messaging upon his return to Boulder, Colorado, over the weekend. Sanders was on the sideline to support his father and former coach Deion Sanders in the Buffaloes game against Arizona.
Sanders didn’t speak to media members, though he did don a shirt that read, “The Rejected Will Be Respected ” on the back.
The phrase is one that members of the Sanders family, Shedeur and Deion included, have uttered on several occasions. However, it also potentially applies to the exact situation Sanders is navigating with a Browns team still yet unwilling to play him despite a 2-6 start and mediocre to below-average play from Gabriel across four NFL starts.
Dillon Gabriel Has Yet to Truly Impress as Browns Starting QB
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel.
Gabriel, a third-round pick out of Oregon, is 1-3 as the starter. He has completed 59.9 percent of his passes for 702 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions in six total appearances this year.
Cleveland benched former starter Joe Flacco for Gabriel ahead of the team’s Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in London. Gabriel went 19-of-33 for 190 yards and two scores in a game that the Browns lost in the final seconds with their defense on the field.
That performance prompted a trade of Flacco to the AFC North Division rival Cincinnati Bengals shortly thereafter, which allowed Sanders to ascend to the role of QB2. However, Gabriel has not played that well since and has been a game-managing quarterback for the most part. Analysts like Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com have reported that Cleveland wants to see Gabriel air the football out more and up the level of the passing game, though that has not happened to this point in his tenure as the starter.
Shedeur Sanders Could Get Starting Shot Sooner if Browns, Dillon Gabriel Struggle Against Jets Next Week
GettyQuarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns.
After the off week, the Browns will return to the field to take on the one-win New York Jets in a road contest on November 9. Barring injury, Gabriel is definitely going to start that game. But how he plays and the team’s result could have an impact on where Cleveland goes at the QB position from there.
Based on comments from owner Jimmy Haslam , the team intends to find out what it has in each of its rookie QBs in 2025. That strongly implies that Sanders will eventually get a chance to start.
Should the Browns fall to 2-7 with a loss to one of the worst teams in the league next week, and should Gabriel play poorly, there is a chance that media and fan pressure will force Stefanski’s hand and get Sanders into the game — or at least move him closer to his chance as November rolls along.
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