Three touchdowns Thursday, an MRI by Saturday
Dillon Gabriel had the preseason half of his life against New England. Twelve completions on 15 throws, 186 yards, three touchdowns, a 37-13 win that never felt in doubt. He was the story coming out of that night.
Saturday, his back was bothering him. ESPN reported an MRI. On Sunday, with rosters being cut to 53, Cleveland put him on injured reserve with a return designation, which means Week 5 at the earliest.
Nobody has said what happened in between. Backs tend to work like that.
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Watson starts, and the Browns keep three quarterbacks
Todd Monken settled the depth chart before any of this. In his first year as head coach he named Deshaun Watson the starter, with Shedeur Sanders behind him and rookie Taylen Green third. Carrying three passers costs you a spot elsewhere, so that decision says something.
Green came out of Arkansas in the sixth round and played once all preseason. Five of seven for 27 yards through the air, which is nothing. Sixty-six rushing yards on eight carries, which was the most in the game. That is what kept him.
Sanders is coming off a rookie year nobody enjoyed: 56.6 percent, 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns against 10 picks, 23 sacks absorbed, 3-4 as a starter. Gabriel’s numbers were not much better, 937 yards, seven scores, two interceptions, 1-5 in his starts. The 2025 draft class linked them and the results have kept them linked.
Watson has not been healthy since 2022
He turns 31 the day after the opener at Jacksonville on September 13. Since the five-year, 230 million dollar trade in 2022, he is 9-10 as Cleveland’s starter and has never played more than seven games in a season. Last year he played none of them, out after two Achilles operations, the second needed when the rehab went wrong.
So the depth chart reads: a starter with almost no recent football behind him, a backup with a bad rookie year to answer for, and a sixth-rounder learning on the job. The one player trending upward is in the training room.
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