Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco spoke about the unfortunate timing of an injury to teammate Kenny Pickett in training camp on Monday.
Over the weekend, the tight competition for the starting spot shifted when Pickett sustained a hamstring injury in practice.
“I think, listen, I think there’s worse timing,” Flacco said after Monday’s practice. “But at any point when you’ve been working so hard, you don’t want to see something like that.”
Both Flacco and Pickett joined the Browns ahead of this NFL season and lead the depth chart ahead of rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
The Akron Beacon Journal initially reported that the second week of Browns training camp would include adjustments in the quarterback reps. Come Monday afternoon, Gabriel was filmed on the field during passing drills.
With Pickett sidelined and Gabriel getting reps in, Sanders recently had an impressive showing late into the first week of training camp. ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi counted that Sanders had more scrimmage sets than Flacco throughout Week 1 of camp. Sanders was also filmed throwing touchdown passes over the defense in training. However, his reps had not come with the first-team offense.
All four quarterbacks are fresh faces to the Browns locker room, apart from Flacco, who had a one-year stint with the Browns in 2023. Pickett joined Cleveland after two years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and a season with the Philadelphia Eagles. In his lone, Super Bowl-winning year with the Birds, Pickett made five appearances and completed 25 of 42 attempts for two touchdowns.
Flacco’s long career was mostly spent in Baltimore, where he was the signal caller for the Ravens for 11 years. He has since played for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts.
The Browns had Deshaun Watson, Jameis Winston and Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the position just last season. They had a complete wipeout of their quarterbacks after a 3-14 season, starting with a season-ending Achilles tear for Watson in Week 7. He then re-ruptured his Achilles after rolling his ankle during the rehab process, putting his availability for 2025 in doubt. Watson’s contract will count just under $36 million against the Browns’ salary cap this season, per Spotrac.
Despite Pickett’s injury, the Browns have previously expressed they will not trade any of their quarterbacks. Cleveland will open their season on September 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
