The Browns are making a quarterback change. Rookie Dillon Gabriel will start Sunday when Cleveland plays the Minnesota Vikings in London, the team announced Wednesday.
At 1-3, Cleveland is going with Gabriel over the 40-year-old Joe Flacco, who threw two touchdowns and six interceptions over his four starts. The Browns haven’t scored more than 17 points in a game, and coach Kevin Stefanski makes the change after the team managed just one touchdown and three turnovers in a 34-10 loss Sunday at Detroit.
Flacco will become the backup, with rookie Shedeur Sanders remaining the No. 3 quarterback, Stefanski announced on Wednesday.
Gabriel has made brief appearances at the end of two blowout losses. He threw his first NFL touchdown pass in Week 2 at Baltimore, and he was 0-for-1 passing as the Browns went three-and-out late in the loss to the Lions.
A left-handed passer and a third-round pick in April, Gabriel will become the 41st starting quarterback the Browns have had since the franchise’s 1999 return to the NFL. The team will have a normal workday before traveling from Cleveland to London Wednesday evening.
Gabriel spent most of August as the No. 2 quarterback, and his spot as next in line for the regular season was solidified when Kenny Pickett was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders on Aug. 25.
Though the Browns maintained throughout the spring and summer that they were holding an open quarterback competition, Flacco was always the favorite and ended up taking almost all of the reps with the No. 1 offense after Pickett suffered a hamstring injury early in camp. Gabriel got a handful of reps with the No. 1 offense throughout camp and started the second preseason game after sitting out the first due to hamstring tightness.
Gabriel started three seasons at UCF when healthy and two at Oklahoma before finishing his college career last fall at Oregon, where he led the Ducks to an unbeaten regular season, was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting. He’s the all-time leader in FBS touchdown passes with 155.
Gabriel was 13-of-18 for 143 yards and an interception against the Philadelphia Eagles in his preseason debut, then went 12-of-19 for 129 yards and a touchdown in the preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Rams.
He takes over a struggling offense that’s started four different offensive line combinations in four games and might have a fifth this week after Monday’s trade for veteran left tackle Cam Robinson. The Browns will also play this week without starting wide receiver Cedric Tillman, who was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Though this move from the 18-year veteran to the rookie felt inevitable at some point this season, Stefanski’s decision to go to Gabriel comes earlier than most thought. The Browns believe in Gabriel’s accuracy, processing and ability to create on the move — something that might be necessary given the state of the offensive line.
“We have to play better and we have to coach better,” Stefanski said Monday. “This is not about one person. My focus is on making sure the offense plays better.”
(Photo: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
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