Browns head coach comments on Dillon Gabriel getting first snaps over Shedeur Sanders

The Cleveland Browns began rookie minicamp Friday, and rookie quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders took the field for the first time. 

Gabriel was selected in the third round, while Sanders was picked in the fifth round after an unprecedented slide. Gabriel received the first snaps of the day, but head coach Kevin Stefanski cautioned about reading too much into that.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t look into anything,” Stefanski said, via a transcript from the Browns. 

“I think you’ll see the whole weekend, going through the spring. I mean, we don’t pay too close attention to who’s in that first snap.”

Stefanski said he thought “both guys did a nice job” but did not commit to who would be getting the first snaps in Saturday’s practice. 

The Browns head coach emphasized not to look “too much into” who receives the first snaps, and that the team has a plan. 

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“There’s a lot of time between now and September, so we’ll have a plan. But it’s an all-encompassing evaluation. It’s not something that it’s just based on the practice reps. There’s a lot that goes into it,” Stefanski said. 

The Browns have five quarterbacks on their roster with no clear Week 1 starter. Deshaun Watson ruptured his Achilles tendon again in January after he underwent surgery on that same tendon in October 2024, and his status for the upcoming season is in doubt. 

The Browns acquired Kenny Pickett in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and signed Joe Flacco to a one-year contract before the NFL Draft. With the additions of Gabriel and Sanders to an already packed quarterback room, it remains to be seen who will get the Week 1 nod.  

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