The Cleveland Browns will be making a quarterback change ahead of Week 5 in England.
The Browns‘ offense has struggled through four weeks, and now the team has benched quarterback Joe Flacco in favor of Dillon Gabriel. Following the news that Cleveland is making a quarterback change, coach Kevin Stefanski explained the reasoning.
“Obviously, from the second he’s been here, he’s been working very hard, (a) very intelligent young man,” Stefanski said. Done a nice job in practice; he’s been learning this whole season how to get ready, understand the rhythm of an NFL week, and what that looks like as a backup. Obviously, now feel like he’s ready to go in as a starter.”
Stefanski believes Gabriel has shown enough in practice to warrant the start against the Minnesota Vikings in hopes of giving the offense a spark.
The Browns‘ coach is confident the rookie quarterback is ready to take control of the quarterback job and run with it.
Stefanski also confirmed that Flacco will be the backup quarterback while Shedeur Sanders will remain the third-string quarterback.
Browns Coach Says Offense Has to be Better
Cleveland’s offense has struggled to begin the year, and the Browns are finally making a quarterback change.
After the Browns’ 34-10 lopsided loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 4, Stefanski wouldn’t confirm Flacco would remain the starter. But, he says, the offense has to be better.
“I understand the question,” Stefanski said on Monday. “We have to play better as an offense. We have to coach better on offense. It’s not about one person. There are so many things that we need to do better and obviously, quarterback included. But this is not about one person.”
With the offense struggling, Stefanski decided the time was now for the Browns to make a quarterback change.
Gabriel will be starting his first career game in England on Sunday against the Vikings.
Although Gabriel will be starting his first career NFL game, he has appeared in two games. He went 3-for-3 for 19 yards and a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens and went 0-1 against the Detroit Lions in Week 4.
Gabriel Didn’t Think Offensive Struggles Was on Flacco
Through the first four weeks of the NFL season, the Browns‘ offense was near the bottom of the NFL.
Flacco was struggling to move the ball and was turning the ball over. However, Gabriel felt like the offense’s struggles weren’t all on Flacco.
“I think anytime you look at it, everyone’s taking their turns and that compiles up,” Gabriel said. “But I don’t think it’s all one person. We all have things we want to be better at, and I think when we look back at the film, there’s going to be a lot of things that we will want to correct.
“But it’s us just coming together and helping each other out,” Gabriel added. “So even if those may have compiled, it’s us continuing to work through it. It’s all these moments that build up that will make us better.”
But, despite Gabriel thinking the blame shouldn’t be on Flacco, the Browns decided to make the quarterback change ahead of Week 5.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Browns Coach Explains Decision to Bench Flacco in Favor of Gabriel appeared first on Heavy Sports.