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After watching Shedeur Sanders shine in his preseason debut against the Carolina Panthers, the Cleveland Browns eagerly tuned into Week 2 to see how fellow Class of 2025 quarterback Dillon Gabriel would fare against the reigning and defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The results? Well, they were polarizing, with Gabriel completing 13 of his 18 passes for 143 yards but throwing a pick, getting sacked twice, and losing a fumble to rookie safety Andrew Mukuba.
Considering Gabriel is in the middle of a four-way quarterback competition with Sanders, Kenny Pickett, and Joe Flacco, this clearly wasn't the best result for the Oregon-educated quarterback. But in the opinion of head coach Kevin Stefanski, the Browns' struggles weren't all on Gabriel's shoulders, as the entire team has room to grow.
“We have plenty to clean up,” Stefanski said via NJ.com. “There are some things that I thought he did well. I thought our offense as a whole on third down was very good early, which allowed us to stay on the field because I don't think we were great on first and second down.”
Taking a step further, Stefanski specifically called out wide receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Blake Whiteheart, who weren't in the correct spot on Gabriel's now-infamous pick-6, noting that the team will clean that up heading into the preseason finale and beyond.
“There shouldn't be, they're out of their sandbox. They were in the wrong area of their sandbox. We'll get that cleaned up. That's something that's kind of what I'm talking about, Tony, where things like that happen in these games,” Stefanski noted. “We have to clean that up. And even if you weren't on that rep, you're a tight end or a wide receiver, you can learn from that rep. So that should never happen on that play. Yeah, obviously that can never happen on that play. There's things, not all interceptions are created.”
Did Gabriel hurt his standing against the Eagles? Yes. But could he still end up being the Browns' long-term answer under center? Considering the NFL has seldom seen a situation like what's unfolding right now in “Believeland,” it's safe to say nothing should be off the table.
For all the Dillon Gabriel haters out there, here is Kevin Stefanski explaining why the pick 6 is not on Gabriel:
The WR and the TE are in the wrong area of their sandbox. We'll get that cleaned up. That should never happen. #Browns pic.twitter.com/NnViLyTQKW
— 𝐃𝐞𝐱 (@OldSchool_NFL) August 16, 2025
