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Dillon Gabriel will start, Taylen Green will back him up in Browns' preseason finale

NBC Sports · Michael David Smith · 2026-08-25T16:13:29+00:00 · nguồn gốc

With Deshaun Watson anointed as the Browns’ starting quarterback and Shedeur Sanders his backup, neither will play in the preseason finale on Thursday against the Patriots. Dillon Gabriel will start and sixth-round rookie Taylen Green will come in after Gabriel, Browns head coach Todd Monken announced today. “I’m excited for Dillon and seeing Taylen,” Monken said, via Cleveland.com. “We went through the first couple of games, the way we went about it, Taylen did a great job over the course of time with limited reps and going against the Bills, really executing our offense at a high level. So, I’m excited to get him out there and see him play.” Monken decided early on that the starting quarterback battle would be a two-man competition between Watson and Sanders, and that Gabriel and Green would not get a chance to earn the job. It’s unclear whether Gabriel and Green will both make the 53-player roster, so they could be playing for their jobs on Thursday. Monken said he and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel discussed it and both agreed that they wouldn’t play their starters in the preseason finale. Gabriel started six games for the Browns last year as a rookie third-round pick. The Browns took Green in the sixth round this year. At 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, Green is an impressive athlete who ran for 35 touchdowns in college, and there was some talk that he might change positions in the NFL. But the Browns have had him practicing at quarterback, and that’s where he’ll play as the preseason comes to a close on Thursday.