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Shedeur Sanders’ injury opens the door for Dillon Gabriel in the Browns' QB battle. Can he take advantage?
Shedeur Sanders made a strong initial impression with his performance in the Browns' preseason opener, completing 14 of 23 passing with two touchdowns as Cleveland beat the Carolina Panthers 30-10.
But the positive momentum surrounding the fifth-round rookie came to a screeching halt yesterday, as he strained his oblique in warm-ups and missed Wednesday's practice.
With the Philadelphia Eagles looming this weekend, head coach Kevin Stefanski may prefer to play it safe with Sanders' injury and give extra playing time to one of the four other quarterbacks in contention - and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel is at the front of the queue.
A hamstring injury has slowed Gabriel in recent weeks. He’s put together back-to-back full practices since the weekend, but his absence has cost him valuable reps. Now, he’s playing catch-up and needs a strong performance against the reigning Super Bowl champions on Saturday.
Gabriel might take a leaf out of Sanders' book and seek advice from the most famous of their Preseason Week 2 opponents, Super Bowl LIX MVP Jalen Hurts.
Gabriel was, famously, selected two rounds earlier than Sanders, suggesting Cleveland preferred his long-term outlook over Sanders'. Whether that's still the case remains to be seen.
Veteran Flacco remains the favourite to start Week 1, and we cannot count out former first-round pick Kenny Pickett.
But at 40 years old, Flacco is not the future of the team, and in the three years since he was drafted, Pickett has failed to justify his lofty draft capital.
Tune in on Saturday, with NFL Game Pass on DAZN, to watch how this storyline unfolds.
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