The Browns moved on rather quickly from Joe Flacco this season, and have now given Dillon Gabriel his six-week audition for their ever-troublesome quarterback job. It’s the turn now for backup Shedeur Sanders, who is 1-1 in his two starts and has shown only fleeting promise that he could be a long-term answer.
But at Cleveland.com, the possibility was raised that the Browns did, in fact, see their future quarterback on the field this past Sunday. That’s because, at the end of the 26-8 San Francisco rout, backup quarterback Mac Jones hit the field for mop-up duty. And if there is a veteran the Browns could poach as a “maybe” option for 2026, Jones might be the top candidate.
That’s the view from beat writer Dan Labbe, who presented the “dark thought” as a possibility on Tuesday. Jones filled in for Brock Purdy in San Francisco this year, going 5-3 in eight games and producing 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 97.2 quarterback rating.
“I allowed some dark thoughts to creep into my mind on Sunday, wondering if I’ll see Jones run into the huddle at Huntington Bank Field again,” Labbe wrote.
Mac Jones Set Up to Fail in New England
Certainly, there are problems with Jones, who is not known for having a big arm and did, in fact, lose the starting job in New England after three seasons with the team. But the Browns could do worse, as we have seen.
Jones was actually a Pro Bowler in his rookie year when he went for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, and a 92.5 rating. That’s a pretty soft Pro Bowler, but he has the chops, at least, to be a decent NFL quarterback.
That he did not work out with the Patriots is not entirely his fault. He played well working with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in his first year, but when McDaniels left, coach Bill Belichick took the odd step of not replacing him with a qualified offensive coordinator. He also took the odd step of putting a ramshackle offensive line and no talent at receiver around Jones.
Browns Know Resurrection Stories Like Mac Jones’
The Browns, of course, have a ramshackle offensive line and their receiver talent is suspect, too. But the NFL has some pretty prominent quarterback reclamation storylines running just now, with Sam Darnold–who was also a 49ers backup–leading the way on that front in the NFC and Daniel Jones of the Colts in the AFC.
Before that, we could go back to Geno Smith’s resurrection in Seattle and , one that Browns fans know all too well, Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay. Good quarterbacks in bad situations often look like bad quarterbacks, and that might be the case with Jones.
Getty ImagesCleveland Browns starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Shedeur Sanders Still Has Browns QB1 Job
For now, though, the Browns job still belongs to Sanders, and he should get a chance to show some improvement against a woeful Titans team this weekend. That, for coach Kevin Stefanski, would be welcome.
“Shedeur had some really good moments in that football game,” Stefanski said. “There are things that he wants back that we’re coaching up right now that he can improve upon. But bottom line is we have to continue to put our players in position to succeed.
“For the young quarterback, you only get better with more turns at this thing in these games, as you see more coverages, as you see more defenses and as you prepare versus different defenses. So just looking forward to that constant improvement with Shedeur and for all of our young players.”
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