Where the Browns' QB competition stands one week into training camp

New York Times

2 days ago

Four days in, few haymakers have been landed in the Cleveland Browns' perceived four-man quarterback competition. With the team as a whole headed to longer and more intense training camp practices over the next week-plus, we're scoring the early competition much in the same way we did coming out of the spring.
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It's long felt as if Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett are competing for the Week 1 starting job, while Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are competing more against the playbook and other challenges involved with being rookie quarterbacks than directly against one another. This situation can ultimately unfold in several different ways, and both rookies seem to be understandably competing more for spots further down the initial depth chart.
Publicly and privately, the team has described this as a truly open competition and has refrained from making commitments. With Flacco and Pickett on cheap contracts only for 2025, Gabriel a late third-round pick and Sanders a fifth-rounder, the Browns aren't committed to anyone or anything besides letting this summer play out.
The four-way battle has probably been what most expected in the still-early stages. And while it's been ugly at times, that also falls under the category of expected, given the division of reps and the small number of chances for any quarterback to get comfortable thus far.
There has been one wrinkle, though. ESPN reported Sunday afternoon that Pickett suffered a hamstring injury in practice Saturday, leaving his availability unclear for a big week ahead.
There have been bad snaps, bad passes, dropped passes, defenders in the backfield before any quarterback could be ready, and other ugliness that happens in every camp at every level of this beautiful game.
In a Saturday morning 7-on-7 drill, each quarterback got four passes. Collectively, they finished 5-of-16. Of the five completions, three were Sanders checkdowns in the final group of the drill.
Sanders later made his first true highlight play of camp with a crossing route for a touchdown to undrafted rookie receiver Luke Floriea in an 11-on-11 drill. Sanders followed that with consecutive touchdown throws in a red zone 7-on-7, and late practice red zone work led to the most prolonged period of completions near and in the end zone that we've seen in camp.
finding the end zone @ShedeurSanders | @Juiceup__3 pic.twitter.com/Q0KGDq8L57
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) July 26, 2025
Flacco has the best arm of the bunch, and there have been times he has shown off that arm strength. Overall, Flacco has been up and down and has rarely strung completions together. As was always the plan, Flacco only took competitive 11-on-11 reps on two of the four days. Given his experience, he'll continue to sit out in some situations until/unless he clearly pulls away from the field.
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Pickett threw one of the few interceptions in camp on Thursday. He's shown off his mobility on multiple occasions, and he's generally getting the ball out of his hand quickly. Though he's been mostly just OK and has made few (if any) impressive downfield completions, he finished Saturday's practice with a pair of quick-release touchdown passes on the move in a red zone drill. It's unclear if he injured his hamstring on his rollout touchdown to end Saturday's practice or if it was suffered earlier and he remained on the field.
Gabriel is a decisive thrower and quick processor, and he's arguably been the most on-time of the passers on out routes to the perimeter. However, after displaying impressive accuracy in the first two practices of camp, Gabriel was erratic over the last two days. Saturday, especially, he struggled to connect with receivers in multiple settings.
Sanders had his two best throwing days Friday and Saturday, which were also his busiest days in competitive situations. He's no longer getting the fewest reps, and though he's at the back of the line in early-practice drills, he has taken some series with the No. 2 offensive line versus No. 2 defense.
When Sanders is on, he's accurate and able to layer passes to allow the intended target the best chance to catch it and gain yards. He's still not receiving any reps with the No. 1 offense or against the No. 1 defense, but he's also getting more opportunities than any No. 4 quarterback has in any previous camp situation.
Following Sunday's first off day of camp for players, we'll see the Browns in full pads for the first time on Monday, and we'll be looking for changes to the quarterback order. Ahead of Pickett's injury, I wouldn't have expected drastic changes of any kind, at least not yet. Now, there's an extra layer of uncertainty — and maybe nervousness — as the rookies, at least temporarily, move closer to the top of the depth chart.
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In an ideal situation, the competition would be at or near its end for the Browns' Aug. 13-14 joint practices in Philadelphia with the Eagles — and a starter would be named ahead of or during the final week of the preseason when Cleveland hosts the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 23.
Flacco has been up first in team drills on the days he's something close to a full participant. Six practices remain before the Browns' Aug. 6 joint session with the Carolina Panthers. If Flacco is first on the practice days that include heavier work, I'll take that as the first clue, but for now, everything remains a bit of a guess. Gabriel's two best days of the spring were the final two days of minicamp, and that seemed to carry over to the first two days of training camp. Now that Sanders appears to have found a rhythm, we'll see this week if he can continue to throw it well.
For the first three days, the 7-on-7 reps were nearly equal. Flacco and Sanders got the most 7-on-7 work Saturday, and that's the only competitive situation Flacco received that day. Since the spring, the Browns have held simultaneous 7-on-7 drills on two fields to maximize reps, something offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has termed 'two-spotting.'
Generally, two-spot drills have Flacco and Pickett alternate with Gabriel ahead of Sanders on the second field. In Saturday's two-spot drill, Sanders got the second field to himself for 10 reps, Gabriel and Flacco shared the first field and Pickett didn't participate. After two of the four practices, the Browns have added an opportunity period for rookies and backups to get some extra 11-on-11 work. In both periods, Gabriel and Sanders have shared six reps equally.
that Flacco zip 🫨@JoeFlacco | @luke_floriea2 pic.twitter.com/tpLTVEynek
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) July 26, 2025
By unofficial count after four days (stressing unofficial, as things move quickly out there with action on multiple fields), the quarterback reps have gone as follows:
Pickett: 18 reps in 7-on-7, 31 in competitive 11-on-11 situations (18 called passes)
Flacco: 21 reps in 7-on-7, 13 in competitive 11-on-11 situations (eight passes)
Gabriel: 20 reps in 7-on-7, 29 in competitive 11-on-11 situations (19 passes)
Sanders: 26 reps in 7-on-7, 19 in competitive 11-on-11 situations (12 passes)
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Deshaun Watson is with the four healthy competitors in meetings and other team activities. Watson was watching some of Saturday's practice from the weight room while he went through some rehab work. Watson's physically unable to perform designation keeps the door open for a potential return to action late in the 2025 season, but it's too early to know if Watson will be healthy enough and if the team would consider activating him at any point.
Last week, Browns general manager Andrew Berry said the team is open to keeping four quarterbacks on its 53-man regular-season roster. However, he stressed that Cleveland is open to almost anything over the next several weeks.
'There can at times be a little bit of tension in terms of future versus present,' Berry said. 'But that's really not the way that we look at it. We look at it as, 'Hey, let's have all these guys out there, let's see how they perform. Let's see what their strengths and weaknesses are and build an offensive support system around the starter when Kevin (Stefanski) is ready to name it.'
'Kevin and I might be the only ones who talk more about the quarterback position than you all are throughout the next couple weeks, and it's something that we'll talk about consistently. I think you guys know us well enough that we work really well together in that regard. But at the end of the day, I trust him. I trust our coaching staff in terms of who they want to play. I think we'll get a lot more information over the next few weeks.'
Pickett, on how he can win the job: 'Consistency. I think that's what the coaches are looking for — the guy that's consistent, that's the same guy every day that they can count on. They can call any play and they know that we'll get them out of a bad play. If the shot is called and it's not there, we'll check it down. Just good quarterback play that can help this team win games, because that's what it's all about. We're all here to win and that's all, that's all I'm concerned about.'
Flacco, on his overall approach: 'I'm as determined as ever to just be the best quarterback that I can be. It's so easy — and I'm guilty of it — to look ahead and picture yourself as the starter and hearing that news and things like that. But (early) in camp, I think the best thing for me is to just stay in the moment and come out here and have fun and compete, just do what I love to do. I think that's going to be the best way for me to show what I can do, and all that stuff. I think there's a lot of self-motivation in order to be good at this in this league, and that's always there. So, I'm just going to continue to approach it like I always do.'
Gabriel, on growth regardless of situation: 'I've said multiple times how I view competition is I just (try to) beat myself from yesterday. 'How can I be better than I was yesterday?' And I think when you have that focus, it's going to make everyone better. It's going to make your team better, it's going to make our run better. And that's all I can do, control what I can control. And any time you think outside of that, you're not serving the moment.'
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Sanders, on his focus at the start of camp: 'I would say just learning. Every day I'm learning different things because I know the opportunity will come whenever it comes. I want to be able to know the ins and outs (of the offense) and know the full everything. So, I don't want to really make too many mistakes when it's my time.'
My stab at predicting the Week 1 starter:
Flacco: 75 percent
Pickett: 20 percent, but just partially due to the injury uncertainty. Flacco has been in this offense and this locker room before.
Any other outcome: 5 percent
It's impossible to know much of anything at this point, so I certainly wouldn't try to predict anything beyond that. I feel zero urgency from the folks in charge to treat Sanders as anything but a talented, developmental-type prospect, and I truly believe the team is open to multiple scenarios — internally and externally — depending on how things go in August.
Stay tuned. We might know more about how Stefanski and his staff view things by the time the Browns head to Carolina.