Shedeur Sanders was shut down with arm soreness, but he was happy for the big day turned in by free agent receiver Gage Larvadain. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
The Browns’ four-man quarterback competition was reduced to two on Saturday. Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel took all reps in four competitive team periods.
Here’s what happened:
Still recovering from a hamstring injury, Kenny Pickett participated in the individual throwing period and made one throw in a two-play, 1-on-1 period with the entire team watching from the sideline. Pickett also got in a few throws in the Hungry Dog period after practice, which is reserved for younger players who get few reps.
The surprise of the day was that Shedeur Sanders was shut down and did not participate in anything except the opening individual period.
He watched four team periods, mostly with his helmet on, and had some brief conversations with owner Jimmy Haslam and GM Andrew Berry as Flacco and Gabriel each got extra reps.
During the practice, fans and media alike had no idea why Sanders was not participating. Fans in attendance occasionally could be heard imploring, “Put Shedeur in!” and “Play Shedeur, please!”
Walking off the field, I asked Sanders why he didn’t receive any reps.
“I’m good,” he said without elaborating.
A club official eventually informed media that Sanders was held out due to “arm soreness.”
Later, another source said that Sanders did something in the individual period that required attention to his right arm.
QB tracker
In the four team periods, which included a controlled live tackling period, Flacco and Gabriel had their busiest practices of camp.
Flacco was 11 of 18 with a pretty, dime-drop fade to Gage Larvadain in the right corner of the end zone for his only touchdown in a red zone period. Another TD was denied when Denzel Ward closed to break up a pass tossed slightly behind Cedric Tillman breaking for the goal line.
Gabriel was 11 of 22. His touchdown came early in the practice in a goal-line period from inside the 10. Gabriel fired the ball to sure-handed tight end Harold Fannin Jr. breaking in on a quick slant.
Although Gabriel had a few miscues – a shotgun snap off his hands, a ball batted at the line by tackle Shelby Harris – he was better than the day before.
Commenting before practice on Gabriel’s 3-of-14, 1-INT performance on Friday, Stefanski said, “There’s the old adage that it’s never as bad as you think or never as good as you think, as a coach, when you go in to watch the tape. I would tell you with any of our players and in particular Dillon, who wants to be great and wants to be great at practice, there’s times that you’re going to go through a tough period out here at practice, a tough seven-on-seven, a tough team period, whatever it may be. And then you really try to learn from those reps.”
First team, All-Berea
Fans in attendance were treated to the best overall day yet turned in by camp sensation Gage Larvadain. The undrafted wide receiver from South Carolina had four real highlights among his five receptions.
He slid on his knees to haul in a deep Flacco pass in the middle of the field, found a hole in a zone about 20 yards downfield on a connection with Gabriel, made the grab on Flacco’s beautiful corner fade against Cam Mitchell and got both feet down for the TD, and capped off his big day in the live tackling period by running 15 yards with the ball after a quick out from Flacco.
Larvadain has emerged as the best of the six undrafted free agent receivers the Browns signed to accommodate the four-QB competition.
The day before, Larvadain told me, “This has been such a great fit for me, especially -- like the coaches say all the time -- to take advantage of these two spots that we do because we do have four quarterbacks. So that's just a blessing that not every undrafted receiver gets to have.
“It’s a blessing that I've been put in position to be able to get those reps and be able to get the extra film that undrafted guys probably wouldn't have got. So it's been good.”
Larvadain was not drafted – not even invited to the NFL Combine – because of his size (5-8 and 171 pounds) and some minor injuries that nagged him during the 2024 campaign catching passes from SEC freshman-of-the-year LaNorris Sellers. Injuries limited Larvadain to 19 receptions for 223 yards and a touchdown despite playing portions of all 13 games.
Larvadain transferred up in competition two times in his college career, playing two years at Southeastern Louisiana, one year at Miami (Ohio), and then one at South Carolina, where Sellers broke out in his redshirt freshman season as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate and top 5 NFL draft pick in 2026.
“I know he's big, he runs, he throws,” Larvadain said of Sellers with a wide smile. “I would say the best thing is not even on the field, it's off the field.
“He talks to everyone. He cracks jokes with everyone. He hangs around everyone, so he's just easy to like. So when you go out there, and you're in the fire, you can kind of talk to him, and he'll understand. He'll talk to you. Just the relationship that he builds off the field makes it a lot easier to play with him on the field.”
Larvadain got some valuable reps with Flacco on Saturday, but he’s mostly been on the field with Pickett, Gabriel and Sanders.
I asked if he’s established a chemistry with any of the QBs.
“Sometimes I forget who's back there, honestly,” Larvadain said. “I'm not even going to lie to you. Like I said, it's the National Football League at the end of the day, so all four of those guys are capable of, you know, doing great things, and all four of them will do good things. I just focus on getting lined up, running my route, and then catching the ball, trying to make a play. So whoever, the ball comes out from, it’s the same to me. It's just my job to catch it.”
Pickett concerned
Pickett termed his hamstring injury “a setback” in his effort to win the starting job and admitted he’s fighting the urge to get back and risk aggravating the injury. Trainers are holding him back after missing three full practices.
“I try to plead my case, but everyone has a job to do,” Pickett said. “They’re looking out for me, and I appreciate that. But you’re also fighting the battle to get out there, so it’s tough.”
Pickett injured the hamstring running a keeper. He’s the most mobile QB of the four, but now he said he’ll “manage” his runs when he gets back into team periods.
“I think it gives me a great opportunity just to work from the pocket, you know, find checkdowns, really improve my game from the pocket,” he said. “So, I think if I look at it with that lens, you know, it could be a real positive.”
He’s not sure if he’ll be ready for full participation in the joint practice against Carolina on Wednesday, one of the crucial checkpoints in the QB competition.
“If you’re not out there, I think it’s a setback,” he said. “You know, you have to be out there playing and competing to win a job. And I fully understand that. That’s why I’m pushing to get back, you know, as fast as possible.”
Brownie bits
Defensive end Myles Garrett (rest) and cornerback Greg Newsome (shoulder) were held out from team periods …
The defense was in a “takeaway” mode, chopping at balls at every chance to jar them free. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger knocked the ball free from Jerome Ford and linebacker Nathaniel Watson recovered it. Ward tried hard to pry the ball from running back Dylan Sampson, but Sampson wouldn’t give it up. On the next play, Ward, who has worked hard on catching the ball between periods every day, dropped an interception covering Diontae Johnson on a sideline route. Ward needed trainer's attention to a finger injured on the play …
Linebacker Mohamoud Diabate made the defensive play of the day closing on a long run by Ford in the tackling period and pulling him down at the 1-yard line to save a TD.