This story has been updated with new information.
PHILADELPHIA — The hamstring never showed itself to be an issue for Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel. The turnovers, however, turned out to be something that will certainly nag at him.
Gabriel, a third-round pick in April’s draft, made his NFL debut Aug. 16 by starting the Browns’ 22-13 preseason win at the Philadelphia Eagles. He played the first half, leaving with the Browns trailing 13-12, and Tyler Huntley played the second half.
The reason why the Browns trailed at the half was, in part, on Gabriel, who threw an interception that was returned by Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba for a touchdown. He also was charged with a fumble lost on a botched handoff to running back Pierre Strong Jr.
Gabriel was also part of the reason why they were able to cut the deficit to one at the break. He led the Browns on a half-ending six-play drive in the final 1:57 that resulted in a 49-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt.
“Yeah, I think we’ll still have to go back to the film and see how it is,” Gabriel said after the game. “But, for me, I think just continuing to learn from maybe some things that can’t happen, like turnovers, but I think other than that there was flashes of being very consistent and clean as an offense. And I think as long as we consistently work at that and then try to put more of those kind of drives together, you see our defense playing really well and just putting each other in better positions.”
The former Central Florida, Oklahoma and Oregon standout ended up 13-of-18 passing for 143 yards with one interception and a 72.2 rating over five possessions. All five led in their own way to points.
Gabriel’s first drive of the game culminated in running back Ahmani Marshall’s 4-yard touchdown run to give Cleveland a 6-0 lead. He also led two drives that resulted in field goals — a 46-yarder by Dustin Hopkins with 9:13 left in the second quarter, and the Szmyt kick as time expired in the first half.
“Yeah, I think there’s 86% of NFL games that have a two-minute end of game or end of half depending,” Gabriel said of his final drive. “But for us that’s huge. We definitely want to continue to get those reps. You try to emulate it, but I think when you’re in it, it’s definitely the best. And just trying to get points, whether it’s seven or three, just trying to consistently move the ball, and then think through how we’re going to operate through that.”
Of course, that was the good. And it was, for the most part, very good.
The bad was the other two drives. Or, more specifically, how those drives ended.
Mukuba’s 75-yard pick six came on the first play of the second quarter. Gabriel tried to force a pass into a tight window where two Browns players — in coach Kevin Stefanski’s words — “were in the wrong area of their sandbox” and the Eagles rookie made the easy play.
“Yeah, I think for me I look back and definitely want to just throw it away, don’t force anything on a keeper,” Gabriel said. “And felt like there’s just miscommunication on my part and something that we’ve got to clean up, but I will and we’ll make sure of that.”
Miscommunication also played a big role in the fumble. The quarterback typically is the one responsible for making sure the handoff is clean on a run play.
On the fumbled exchange with Strong, which Mukuba also recovered at the Cleveland 31, it seemed like the two players weren’t necessarily on the same page. The Eagles turned that turnover into a 9-yard touchdown pass from Kyle McCord to Ainias Smith for a 13-6 lead with 1:57 remaining in the half.
“Yeah, just a miscommunication as well,” Gabriel said. “I’ve got to be better there to help each other out on one that knowing exactly where the launch point is, and that’s something that’ll be corrected and fixed as soon as possible.”
The turnovers put a little bit of a damper on what was an otherwise solid NFL debut for Gabriel, who connected on eight of his first nine throws, with the only incompletion a dump-off that skipped off the hands of Strong.
The former Heisman Trophy finalist was delayed in making his debut by hamstring tightness that prevented him from playing in the preseason opener at the Carolina Panthers. He was a full practice participant this week, including two joint practices with the Eagles, but it wasn’t until two hours before the game the Browns went public with the announcement he would start.
“Well, I think you have to be so careful with these types of injuries,” Stefanski said. “And we have to protect players from themselves, and sometimes guys want to play so bad and then you just have to make sure that they can protect themselves, make sure that they can go perform. So that’s all it was. Just getting as close to kickoff as we can to make a prudent decision for the young man.”
The Browns weren’t playing a lot of their starters or regulars, except for one massive exception — Dawand Jones, the only normal starter on the offensive line who even dressed for the game, started at left tackle. Jones said after the game that was by design to get him game reps after offseason knee surgery following another season cut short early by injury in 2024.
The rest of the starting line for the game were Teven Jenkins at left guard, Luke Wypler at center, Zac Zinter at right guard and Jackson Barton at right tackle. It’s the same group that started on the offensive line for the preseason opener at the Panthers, except Cornelius Lucas started for Jones at left tackle.
Lucas replaced Jones on the third possession. However, he left the game after injuring his ankle late in the half and was replaced by Jason Ivey at left tackle for the final drive of the half.
“It was good,” Jones said of Gabriel. “He was calm, collected. I liked that about him. He just handles. He did what he’s supposed to do as a rookie, so I liked that. Just came to the table with everything. He came out, drove down, scored, so he knows how much that matters.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Dillon Gabriel’s Cleveland Browns debut | Rookie solid save for turnovers in 1st start
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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