Has Dillon Gabriel earned everyone’s respect yet?

More takeaways from Browns’ 19-17 win over Los Angeles Rams …

1. Let’s talk narratives: The story of this game against the Rams’ future roster cuts should be about how good Dillon Gabriel looked – period! -- and not the opposite with Shedeur Sanders. If the uber-popular Sanders were not on the Browns’ roster, fans would be buzzing about how Gabriel looked like a surgeon carving up the Rams’ deep backups in a flawless 2-minute drive at the end of the first half. Jamari Thrash, who made the 16-yard catch of Gabriel's clutch throw and got both feet down before stepping out of bounds on the only third down of the series, on third-and-6 from the 19 with no timeouts and 26 seconds left in the first half, said, “I think Dillon does a good job of getting a feel for the receiver, where the ball’s supposed to be, where it needs to be. I think that’s a plus in his game.” Gage Larvadain caught Gabriel’s 3-yard TD on the next play. Larvadain said assistant receivers coach Stephen Bravo-Brown talked the receivers through a 2-minute drive in a meeting two days prior. “He made a great presentation, got us fired up,” Larvadain said. “That presentation said great players want the ball when the game’s on the line. Obviously, the game wasn’t on the line at the end of the half, but we have that mentality, we want the ball. And I think 5 did a great job of taking charge.” Jerry Jeudy, who watched the series from the sideline, said, “I think he did a good job of getting the ball downfield, getting great yards on first and second down. I won’t necessarily say it was surprising because I’ve seen what he’s done in practice handling the 2-minute situation.”

2. Summoning his inner Belichick: Coach Kevin Stefanski sounded like Bill Belichick when underplaying Gabriel’s performance in the 2-minute drive. “It’s an 11-man operation there, guys getting open, getting the ball out on time,” he said. “I think he did a nice job in a couple different concepts, worked the middle of the field, but I was pleased with how that group finished the half.”

3. More Gabriel: Gabriel played two series and put up a field goal on the first one after he forced a third-and-8 pass from the 10 to Thrash and missed seeing Kaden Davis open underneath him. For the game, Gabriel was 12 of 19 for 129 yards with no turnovers and a 100.5 passer rating. In seven possessions over his two preseason appearances, Gabriel has produced five scores – two TDs and three field goals. The Browns may choose to keep hamstrung veteran Kenny Pickett as their QB2 when the season starts. Or they could short-term IR him, which would put Gabriel “one play away” behind starter Joe Flacco. I asked him if the thought of that was daunting. He answered, “It’s not, for one, because I have ultimate confidence in myself and I’ve played a bunch, so that is my comfort zone. And two, I don’t like thinking like that because for me, I want to support Joe. He needs that and everyone needs that, everyone that’s playing. I want to continue to make sure that’s how it goes.”

4. Frustrating day for Sanders: Sanders opened the second half and went three-and-out on his first four series before getting one first down on two Ahmani Marshall runs on his fifth. After the Rams took the lead, 17-16, with 2:03 to play, Stefanski inserted QB5 Tyler Huntley, who moved the offense into a 37-yard winning field goal by K2 Andre Szmyt. “Obviously, we didn’t play great as an offense in the second half,” Stefanski said. “That’s never on one person. So we can be better in a bunch of areas and just felt like we wanted to give Snoop [Huntley] a last drive.” Sanders finished the game 3 of 6 for 14 yards. He was sacked five times for 41 yards in losses. “Obviously, I feel like I can improve in a lot of areas, like the same thing I said last time,” he said. “I’m just excited for the opportunity to get out there and play.” Wise old vet Flacco said Sanders will have better days, for sure. “That’s part of being a rookie," he said. "It’s part of what makes a football player, is learning how to deal with those situations and learn from them. So, yeah, listen, we’ve all been there. It’s part of the game.”

5. D-Hop kicking himself out?: Dustin Hopkins’ woes on short place-kicks continued. He squeezed a 28-yard field goal just inside the left upright and then missed the PAT wide left after Larvadain’s touchdown. That was Hopkins’ second PAT miss in three preseason games after a tough year in 2024. I asked Stefanski if he has a difficult roster decision on Hopkins when the cuts to 53 are made by Tuesday at 4 p.m. “Yeah, all those type of decisions, we’ll talk about,” he said, forebodingly. Szmyt is 3 of 3 on field goals and 1 of 1 on PATs in his two preseason appearances.  

6. Joe Cool: Since Rams coach Sean McVay didn’t play any starters and very, very few backups, it was child’s play for Flacco to score on the second of his three possessions. He moved 44 yards on 7 plays and tossed to tight end Harold Fannin for a 15-yard TD on a post pattern. Flacco was 9 of 10 overall for 71 yards with one sack, good for a 129.6 rating. “I think it was good to get out there and get your feet wet a little bit, get some rustiness off, get your mind, you know, preparing for a game, going through pregame, all that stuff. I think there’s a lot of value in it,” said the 18-year veteran.

7. One roster lock: Undrafted free agent defensive tackle Adin Huntington capped off an eye-opening training camp with four tackles, 1.5 sacks, two additional tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble. He also opened the game as the fullback in the backfield. All of which made for an uncharacteristic admission by Stefanski. “He played special teams, was disruptive on defense. He’s on our football team. AB [Andrew Berry] said I could share that with you guys. So, he made the football team. But I’m just, I’m pleased with that entire defense and just how they were relentless to get that quarterback.” Other sacks of sacrificial lamb Rams QB Dresser Winn were turned in by Cam Thomas, Alex Wright and K.J. Henry (half-sack).