The Cleveland Browns made a significant decision during their bye week, announcing that head coach Kevin Stefanski was giving up play-calling duties and handing them over to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. A Cleveland radio host is now speculating on how the move will impact not only starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel but also backup Shedeur Sanders.
On Tuesday, 92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman addressed the play-calling switch, stating that it could have been done to benefit Gabriel and Sanders because Rees was more familiar with them.
“If you have four QBs in a quote-unquote competition, the head coach can’t keep an eye on all of them,” Carman said. “I imagine Tommy Rees was working with the younger quarterbacks, working with Dillon Gabriel and working with Shedeur Sanders. You’re going to see Shedeur at some point here, unless his back is that locked up and he goes on IR, for crying out loud, which would be horrific for the year.
“If you see Shedeur, wouldn’t it stand to reason ‘OK, you’re the one who has the experience, and what I’m doing is not working?” Carman continued. “Maybe I should hand the reins over to him. it does seem desperate, but everything you’ve done this year has been nonsensical.”
Carman pointed out that the reasoning for keeping Gabriel also did not make sense.
“Trading away your two veterans before it’s even halfway through the season, that’s not good. Now you have a guy like Dillon Gabriel who looks completely in over his head, and the only argument that I can make for him is ... I just want to see what he does responding to really bad play. Now you have to respond to playing really badly, and you’re going to have an offensive coordinator change, so you’re going to have something different that you’re thrown into.”
In the four games Gabriel started this season, he has completed 59.9% of his passes for 702 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Although he has the job now, there have been reports that Sanders will start games later in the season to allow the Browns time to evaluate him in game action.
Sanders is dealing with a back injury that kept him out of the Browns’ last game against the New England Patriots. It also kept him out of Monday’s practice.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.