Rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel will start for the Cleveland Browns in Saturday’s preseason game at Philadelphia, the team announced.
Drafted in the third round in April, Gabriel missed the preseason opener with hamstring tightness and returned to practice on Monday.
Fellow rookie signal-caller Shedeur Sanders, who threw two touchdown passes in the Aug. 8 preseason opener at Carolina, will not play against the Eagles due to an oblique injury.
“When it’s a quarterback, you kind of need that muscle to throw,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said of Sanders. “So unfortunately, (it’s) going to put him down for a little bit here. We’ll treat it day to day and see how he responds. But want to be smart because he’s a thrower, so you can’t push that thing.”
Stefanski said veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, 40, is healthy but will not play for the second consecutive week.
With Kenny Pickett working his way back from a hamstring injury and Deshaun Watson likely out for the year with an Achilles injury, that leaves only Gabriel and Tyler Huntley available to take snaps in Philadelphia.
Gabriel was selected 94th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft after putting up big numbers at three college stops: UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon. Still on the board 50 picks later, the Browns chose Sanders to end a well-publicized draft weekend crash from projections of a top-50 draft rating.
Gabriel, 24, said earlier this week that he won’t overthink it if he starts against the reigning Super Bowl champions.
“I try to just stay in the moment. I’ll look forward to that moment once it comes and be right where my feet are,” Gabriel said. “The best competitors know how to stay present and be themselves by competing at a high level one play at a time.”
Gabriel completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 18,722 yards with 155 touchdowns and 32 interceptions across 64 games in college from 2019-24. He rushed for 1,209 yards and 33 scores.
–Field Level Media
