Even though Dillon Gabriel and the Cleveland Browns came up short in a 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London during Week 5, his first career start showed plenty of promise. Now, with Joe Flacco traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, it’s clear the team feels confident letting their third-round pick take the reins under center.

The rookie learned behind the 40-year-old for the first four weeks before replacing him as the QB1 in Week 5. Now, if you ask Gabriel himself about what he learned from Flacco before he was traded, he’d just say that it’s not just one thing.

“I don’t think it’s one thing,” Gabriel told reporters after the Browns traded Flaco on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t want to limit it to that. But I think just overall his (Flacco’s) process, how he’s been about his business from day one, really, how he approaches meetings, practice, you know, taking care of his body, kind of his daily routine.

“So, I think you just pick up on that as you’re around people and try to make it your own and learn how you can improve your routine. But more importantly, just the friendship and the person he is. Although there’s an age gap, I think just being able to connect and have those conversations, I appreciate those a lot.”

Flacco always seemed the starting quarterback when the Browns brought him back. However, four weeks in, the 40-year-old veteran struggled to put up a strong outing. He dropped three in his first four games and completed 58.1% of his passes for 815 yards, with two touchdowns and six interceptions, before the Browns benched him for Gabriel in Week 5.

Fast forward to Tuesday, October 7, and the Browns traded Flacco to the Bengals. However, the Oregon Ducks product has always been vocal about the mentorship he received from Flacco during their time together. When Cleveland named Gabriel the QB ahead of Week 5, the rookie cleared his feelings on his predecessor.

“What I appreciate about Joe is just, it’s not his job to be a mentor, it’s his job to be a great quarterback. And I think just his openness to answer questions. It’s my job to ask questions, right? And search for those answers,” Gabriel said when asked about how Flacco supported him.

In his first career start, Dillon Gabriel completed 19 of 33 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. While the Browns surely lost the game, the rookie QB is now expected to bounce back, considering he’ll now get more reps, more attention, and more development.

Kevin Stefanski has yet to make some roster decisions

After the Week 5 loss in London, the Browns actually had no plans to trade Joe Flacco earlier this week. But the Bengals called, and the team had to change their plans, which eventually took Kevin Stefanski and Co. by surprise. During Wednesday’s conference, the head coach admitted it himself.

“First [thing] I’d tell you is the Joe trade took us by surprise,” Stefanski said. “That was not something that we saw coming.” The head coach later revealed that it was actually the team’s general manager, Andrew Berry, who made the call to trade the 40-year-old.

“Obviously, AB makes those decisions,” Stefanski said, addressing Berry. “I trust AB. We talk about every decision we make. They wanted Joe. They made the phone call. Obviously, it gives Joe an opportunity to go play again. But I trust in our decisions.”

Now with Flacco shipped off to Cincinnati and Dillon Gabriel alongside Shedeur Sanders as the only quarterbacks on the active roster, the question now is obvious: who’s going to be QB2? The odds clearly favor Shedeur, but Stefanski hasn’t finalized his roster decisions yet and isn’t ready to officially hand him that spot.

“I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development,” Stefanski said when asked whether Shedeur will be the QB 2 during the Week 6 game. “I want to make sure I’m always doing what’s best for our players, and of course our team… These are young players that you’re so invested in their development. So, I’ll let the week play out and make a decision later on then.”

Besides Shedeur and Gabriel, the Browns also have Bailey Zappe on the practice squad. While the HC hasn’t made any decision on the backup QB, sure. The Colorado product will likely be the backup to Gabriel.