Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel responded to the chatter about losing his job to Shedeur Sanders after Sunday’s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets.
Gabriel and the Browns fell to 2-7 with the loss to the Jets — a team that traded away two Pro Bowl-caliber players at the deadline and entered with just one win. The Cleveland offense continued to sputter despite a change in play-callers.
Gabriel passed for just 167 yards in the loss. He did have two touchdowns but the offense still lacked explosive plays and consistency. Gabriel has passed for 850 yards and six touchdowns in his five starts. He’s gone over 200 yards just once.
Gabriel’s struggles on Sunday have led to even louder calls for Sanders to be named the starter. He’s doing his best to tune out the noise.
“All I can do is control what I can,” Gabriel said. “That’s what you’ve got to do. That’s all you got.”
Fortunately for Gabriel, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski left no room for speculation in his postgame press conference. He assured that Gabriel will be the starting quarterback next week when the Browns take on the Baltimore Ravens.
“Yeah, we’re going to stick with Dillon,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, this is a young player that you’re always trying to get one game better and those type of things, but we have to play better as an offense, we have to coach better, all the above.”
Browns QB Dillon Gabriel Admits Frustration
Gabriel, a third-round pick, knows that if he doesn’t start delivering results, his time as the starter could be short-lived. He benefited from a change earlier in the season when Joe Flacco was benched, but since taking over, Gabriel has done little to show he can be the spark the Browns’ offense desperately needs.
“When things aren’t going well, there’s always going to be change,” Gabriel said. “That’s part of it because if you keep doing the same thing and don’t change anything, that’s insanity. But just I feel like at times there’s things that went well and we sustained and executed, and then in certain moments we didn’t execute and that starts with me.
“But it’s always frustrating when it’s not going the way you want it to and you put in the work and time. But in crucial moments, you’ve got to have it and execute. And we didn’t.”
Browns Veterans Back Dillon Gabriel
Part of the issue for Gabriel against the Jets was pressure. He was sacked six times and hit many more. After the game, his linemen had his back. Guard Wyatt Teller saw improvement from Gabriel and the offense, but it wasn’t enough.
“Sucks, but I don’t want fans, I don’t want our players or Dillon to get upset at himself because he thinks he messed up when it’s like, we had an efficient offense,” Teller said. “We’re talking about right there on the verge. We had a good plan. We ran the ball effectively. It was nice to see us having success throughout the game. Not just the first 15 working and then be stalled, but actually have success throughout the whole game. Defense played tough. We just can’t put them in situations like that.”
The Browns entered the weekend with slim playoff hopes. After losing to the Jets, Cleveland may need to shift its focus to the future and evaluate whether Sanders can provide a lift to the offense.
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