Sports

As the Cleveland Browns prepared to give Dillon Gabriel his first start this week, the third-round rookie quarterback received a text.

In it was a picture. Of a fire station.

What?

This wasn’t some joke about the Browns giving reason to panic after a 1-3 start, nor was the picture a mistake. Gabriel’s friend was texting a message about his opportunity.

“Doors are open, garage doors are open, things are ready to go,” Gabriel told reporters on Wednesday. “And they’re just waiting on that phone call to respond surgically.

“What a great representation of the job I have and being ready for that moment. I smile, because it’s a moment you prep for.”

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Excitement and “extreme focus” characterized Gabriel’s response to getting the QB1 nod in Week 4 after 18-year veteran Joe Flacco played the first four contests for Cleveland.

But Gabriel’s debut will be unusual for more reasons than just the Browns’ decision to draft Shedeur Sanders two rounds after Gabriel this spring. 

Gabriel will be the first quarterback to make his first start overseas, per CBS Sports research. He’ll make that start against a Minnesota Vikings defense that has earned its reputation for deception against even veteran quarterbacks, and he’ll make it with an offense tied for the league-worst mark at eight turnovers. The Browns’ minus-six turnover ratio ranks below everyone but the New York Jets.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said he would work to tailor the offense to Gabriel’s strengths, as he would for any rookie or quarterback. The Browns have also said they believe in deliberate on-ramping of young quarterbacks, akin to the Washington Commanders’ gradual playbook expansion last season for No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels.

Regardless what tweaks the Browns attempt, the circumstances are hardly ideal for a rookie’s starting debut.

But Gabriel wasn’t worrying about the tall odds as he prepared for practice Wednesday ahead of the Browns’ overnight flight to London. He was instead embracing the chaos of the moment — and welcoming the challenge ahead.

“You wait for the perfect time, you are going to wait a whole lifetime,” Gabriel said. “So for me, I’ve always been ready for every moment.”

As Browns turn to rookie, Browns offensive issues ‘not about one person’

Already during offseason activities, Browns leadership was tapped into and impressed by Gabriel’s readiness. Coaches and executives alike lauded his computer-like ability to process defenses before they broke for summer. 

General manager Andrew Berry described Gabriel as “basically like a veteran” in a June interview with Yahoo Sports while offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said “you don’t ever really need to correct him twice.”

Gabriel arrived in Cleveland with deep experience in six college seasons with three different programs. He’d thrown for 18,722 yards, 155 touchdowns and 32 interceptions across his 64 total games with UCF, Oklahoma and Oregon.

That foundation allowed him to pick up the Browns’ playbook smoothly and earn first-team reps during a minicamp competition against Flacco, veteran Kenny Pickett and Sanders. No one was touting Gabriel then as more ready than Flacco, but a program emphatic on decision-making and and playbook grasp tilted toward Gabriel for extra snaps during Flacco’s veteran exemption times.

“Oftentimes the thought in the NFL is like, ‘OK, well your starter gets 70% of the reps, your backup gets 25% of the reps and your third guy gets 5% of the reps,” Berry told Yahoo Sports in June. “And the job of the backups is to be ready to play with no reps. It doesn't have to be that way. Especially in the spring when we have some flexibility because we’re not necessarily preparing for games, you can build out enough where guys can grow and develop and you can evaluate them as you go.”

So Gabriel received his share of first-team reps. He played in three preseason games, completing 25 of 37 passes for 272 yards, one touchdown and one interception. And in the Browns’ 41-17 blowout loss to the Baltimore Ravens Sept. 14, Gabriel received cleanup snaps during which he completed three of three passes for 19 yards and a touchdown. 

The body of work, paired with Flacco’s floundering, pushed the Browns to make a change.

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Flacco completed 58.1% of 160 pass attempts for 815 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions in four starts. He fumbled twice as well. 

The lost possessions contributed to Cleveland averaging just 14 points per game through four weeks, second-worst in the league. 

Flacco wasn’t the only one responsible for the dysfunction. But the Browns felt they needed a change to spark turnaround. Flacco will be Gabriel’s backup this week, Stefanski confirmed before declining to comment on why Sanders did not get the nod.

Sanders declined to vocalize support for Gabriel or any of the Browns decisions Wednesday, pantomiming a locker room interview instead.

“I know the quarterback position gets quite a bit of scrutiny, I understand that,” head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Wednesday. “But this is about our entire team playing better.

“This is not about one person.”

What’s reasonable to expect from Gabriel vs. disguise-heavy Flores D?

One week before the Browns announced their quarterback change, the then-winless New York Giants did the same.

Despite preparing for a 3-0 Los Angeles Chargers team, the Giants responded to a turnover-laden game by benching veteran Russell Wilson for first-round rookie Jaxson Dart.

Yahoo Sports polled coaches and executives then on what they’d most want to see from Dart in his debut. With a win an uphill battle amid the Giants struggles, what other metrics could help diagnose the quality of Dart’s debut?

One high-ranking executive identified three key targets: a clean operation from huddle to snap; the ability to self-correct after mistakes; and a willingness to answer in must-have situations, even if out-of-structure play is required.

“There are a number of times in games where it is on the QB to make something happen,” the executive told Yahoo Sports. “Understanding when those moments come and being unafraid to just play in those moments, regardless of success, would be important for me.”

The formula applies to Gabriel as well. 

The Vikings rank ninth in points per game allowed and seventh in total offense allowed. They’re allowing just 151.5 passing yards per game, good for third fewest. Credit Vikings defenders for strong fundamentals and execution. But also credit Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, whom play-callers around the league even struggle to diagnose. 

“You're guessing a lot of the game,” one NFC play-caller told Yahoo Sports. “All the different looks he shows in the pre-snap. Is it zero [blitz]? Is it not zero?”

Added Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin: “His deal is it’s going to be max confusion. And if you’re wrong, you’re going to get hit in the back of the head. And if you’re wrong, you’re going throw [his defense] the ball.”

Gabriel will hope to do neither as he starts behind an injury-hampered offensive line. The Browns will hope he finds on-field solutions to their problems and exercises wise decision-making as his opponent tries to confound him.

“A combination of being able to ad lib, confidence in using your legs as a weapon,” Gabriel said. “It is real in this day and age. But I think it's a great combination of a lot of things. You want to use it when you need to, not when you just feel like doing it. So I think moving when necessary is important and have confidence in that. But also throwing and making sure we're running the offense the right way.”

In short: Be ready for whatever comes his way. Be ready for the international adaptations and the Flores pre-snap disguises. Be ready for the mobility to compensate for a dragging offensive line and be ready for the temptation to make a play that risks ball security.

Be a fire station.

“The more we create positive plays and let that continue to stack on each other, then good things will happen,” Gabriel said. “But small bites at the time.”