Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel showed some impressive traits during Saturday’s 22-13 preseason victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, as he played the entire first half and went 13-for-18 for 143 yards, though he did throw a pick-six and lost a fumble.
The takeaways for his performance were mostly positive, but he stirred up a bit of controversy with some interesting postgame comments that could be perceived as a shot at one of his teammates.
After the game, Gabriel dropped a quote that sounded like something he had been pondering for quite some time as opposed to a reaction to the game itself.
“There’s entertainers and there’s competitors and I understand that but my job is to compete.”
“There’s entertainers and there’s competitors and I understand that but my job is to compete,” – Dillon Gabriel on his debut. pic.twitter.com/tbR15F1WBN
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) August 16, 2025
This comment unsurprisingly made many wonder if he was taking a shot at Shedeur Sanders, who has a flair for the dramatics and is making more headlines than just about any fifth-round rookie ever has.
It would be understandable if Gabriel was upset at the amount of buzz and attention Sanders gets despite being drafted two rounds after him and sitting at fourth on the depth chart.
Many fans and media members questioned the Gabriel selection altogether and have been clamoring for Sanders to start right away, and without reading too deep into one quote, it’s possible Gabriel recognizes all this and uses it as motivation.
No matter what any of these QBs say, the most important thing is that at least one of these guys emerges as a potential franchise quarterback.
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