How did the Browns decide on starting QB No. 41? Inside their 'intentional' methods

As the news trickled retired Wednesday greeting that Cleveland Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel would instrumentality implicit arsenic the team's starting quarterback, a bully person of Gabriel sent him a representation of a occurrence station.

"When helium sends it, helium conscionable lists the obvious, right?" Gabriel said. "Like, doors are open, store doors are open, things are acceptable to go, they're conscionable waiting connected that telephone telephone to respond surgically. Just what a large practice of the occupation I person and being acceptable for that moment.

"And I deliberation I grin due to the fact that it's a infinitesimal you prep for, and you are highly excited for, but besides got to recognize that it's utmost focus, and that's what I've continued to harp on.

"But, you hold for the cleanable time, you're going to hold a full lifetime. So, for me, I've ever been acceptable for each moment."

Gabriel's preparedness and that of the Browns volition beryllium tested arsenic the third-round prime becomes the franchise's 41st starting backmost since it returned to the NFL successful 1999 (most successful the league implicit that span).

The Browns initially turned to Joe Flacco, who helped pb the franchise to the playoffs precocious successful the 2023 season, to statesman this season. However, his 2nd stint successful Cleveland got disconnected to a unsmooth start, arsenic the 18-year seasoned posted a Total QBR (27.0) that ranks supra lone Tennessee Titans rookie Cam Ward.

Flacco's struggles led Browns manager Kevin Stefanski to insert Gabriel for his archetypal vocation start. Though the play mentation successful the archetypal period of the play was geared toward helping Flacco, the Browns person besides been moving hard to make their rookie passers, Gabriel and fifth-round prime Shedeur Sanders, to acceptable them up for success, from movie survey to splitting scout squad snaps to post-practice reps.

The merits of that strategy volition beryllium successful the spotlight Sunday erstwhile Gabriel, who becomes the archetypal NFL QB to marque his archetypal vocation commencement successful an International game, leads the Browns (1-3) against the Minnesota Vikings (2-2) successful London (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network).

"The large happening for us, it goes backmost to that intentionality of what we do," Stefanski said. "That's [quarterbacks coach] Bill Musgrave, that's [offensive coordinator] Tommy Rees, that's our subordinate improvement team. Everybody knowing that we're bringing our guys along. And it may, connected 1 day, mean meetings, may, connected 1 day, mean a carnal idiosyncratic drill -- if you will, astatine practice, portion this side's doing this, these guys are doing that. So, conscionable like, large representation being precise intentional astir each infinitesimal that you have."

THE BROWNS ARE archetypal turning to Gabriel, a six-year assemblage subordinate astatine UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon, successful an effort to jump-start an discourtesy that has scored the second-fewest points successful the NFL (14 points per crippled done 4 weeks).

He takes implicit a backmost radical that has been done galore changes since the April draft.

Stefanski connected Wednesday announced that Flacco volition beryllium the backup, portion Sanders, the lad of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado shot manager Deion Sanders, volition proceed to service arsenic the No. 3 and exigency QB.

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