The Cleveland Browns have announced who they will be starting at quarterback vs the New England Patriots on Thursday.
On Monday, it was announced that the Cleveland Browns had selected Deshaun Watson to be their starting quarterback to open up the 2026 season, beating out Shedeur Sanders for the job. The move was met with a wide array of reactions from the NFL world, with some fans wondering who would get the start for Thursday’s preseason finale against the New England Patriots.
Later in the day, fans got their answer.
“#Browns Todd Monken won’t play either Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders vs the #Patriots here on Thursday night. Dillon Gabriel will start and Taylen Green will finish,” reported Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com on X, formerly Twitter.
Gabriel seems to have been lost in the shuffle somewhat amid the quarterback battle between Watson and Sanders during training camp, having started some games last year before getting injured and losing the role to Sanders down the stretch of the season.
While many fans wanted Cleveland to go with the player with seemingly more potential to grow in Sanders, the huge amount of money that the Browns have tied to Watson, combined with the fact that Sanders hasn’t exactly blown away expectations in his preseason stints so far, ultimately led to Monken’s decision to give Watson the starting job.
Still, it will be interesting to see if Gabriel is able to raise some eyebrows against the Patriots and potentially give Sanders some competition for the primary backup quarterback spot on the roster.
The Browns and Patriots are set to kick off on Thursday at 8:00 pm ET.
On Monday, it was announced that the Cleveland Browns had selected Deshaun Watson to be their starting quarterback to open up the 2026 season, beating out Shedeur Sanders for the job. The move was met with a wide array of reactions from the NFL world, with some fans wondering who would get the start for Thursday’s preseason finale against the New England Patriots.
