The Cleveland Browns’ backup quarterback job may already be changing hands, and Shedeur Sanders is the one losing ground. Dillon Gabriel worked with the second-team offense in practice this week, ESPN Cleveland host Tony Rizzo reported. That detail carries real weight in the regular season, when nearly every rep belongs to the starter.

Gabriel won’t play against the Tennessee Titans this weekend. A back injury has him on injured reserve, and he has been ruled out, even after logging full participation all week while the Browns’ window to activate him stays open. Rizzo’s read on the timing was blunt: “We have to win Sunday first, but this is a big thing.”

This week’s matchup carries a bitter twist. Sanders’ best day as a pro came against these same Titans last season, a 364-yard, three-touchdown passing effort he paired with a rushing score. Over seven starts as a 2025 fifth-round pick, he connected on 56.6% of his throws, piling up 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This season, he has attempted one pass.

On paper, nothing has moved yet. The published depth chart still lists Sanders second, directly behind Deshaun Watson. But teams rarely spend scarce practice time grooming a player who can’t take the field, and the only role behind Watson that's currently worth grooming belongs to Sanders.

Deshaun Watson’s Late Drives Leave Shedeur Sanders Facing a Nov. 10 Crossroads

On the All the Smoke podcast, former NFL linebacker Willie McGinest said coaches weigh parts of quarterback play that viewers never see, such as how a passer commands the offense and prepares in practice. “At some point, if he’s doing what he needs to do on the football field, he’ll get an opportunity….” That is Sanders’ bind: practice is where his chances are thinning.

Watson, uneven as he has been, keeps closing games. The Browns carry a 4-2 record into Week 7 under head coach Todd Monken, and each victory needed a go-ahead drive deep in the fourth quarter.

That includes a 13-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens in which Cleveland mustered 46 net yards by halftime before Watson led a 62-yard march to set up Andre Szmyt’s game-winning kick.

Sanders, who entered the league without an agent, has since brought on Adie von Gontard of Young Money APAA Sports, and reports say he skipped Watson’s party with teammates after the Baltimore win. Neither proves he wants out. Still, ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi acknowledged, “It’s natural to think something is amiss.”

Grossi expects Cleveland to hold Watson, Sanders, Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green until the Nov. 10 trade deadline, buying time to weigh options and possibly build value. 

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