CLEVELAND -- Browns coach Todd Monken on Thursday night sidestepped a question about keeping four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster after Dillon Gabriel threw three first-half touchdowns in a 37-13 preseason-closing win over the New England Patriots.
Cleveland opted to sit Week 1 starter Deshaun Watson and his backup, Shedeur Sanders, against the Patriots. Gabriel, the 2025 third-round pick who was selected two rounds before Sanders, started the game and completed 12 of 15 passes for 186 yards with his three TDs in the first half.
Monken lauded Gabriel's preparation throughout training camp, even though the QB received few practice reps behind Watson and Sanders.
"He's a prideful guy, he's had a lot of success in his career, and all he does is prepare," Monken said. "That's all he does. Comes to work every day, prepares like a pro. You can see he can really operate. I mean, he gets it. He gets what we want to do. He has a certain confidence about him when he takes the field. And I'm fired up. ... It's like having a coach."
Monken, though, did not commit to keeping Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green on the 53-man roster. The NFL's roster cut-down deadline is 6 p.m. Sunday.
"I'm not going to get into that now," Monken said. "[General manager] Andrew [Berry] and I haven't had a chance to really talk about that."
Gabriel started six games as a rookie before sustaining a concussion in Week 11 that paved the way for Sanders to start the final seven. Monken, a first-year NFL head coach, centered Cleveland's quarterback competition around Watson and Sanders as they split first-team reps when he took over.
Gabriel played the fourth quarters of the first two preseason games before starting the finale.
"At some point you want to see your hard work coming to fruition in a real live setting," Gabriel said. "And of course it wasn't exactly what I wanted the first two preseason games, and that's probably the frustrating part on my end. But then being able to go out today with a bunch of great dudes and a real [opportunity] to just make the most of it, maxing in the moment, that's really what it's all about."
Monken said Gabriel's performance Thursday night does not change his plan for his starting quarterback or backup.
Green, a sixth-round pick who went several days in camp without getting any practice reps, started the second half. He completed 5 of 7 passes for 27 yards and also ran for a game-high 66 yards on eight carries.
"That's what he is, just a tremendous athlete that [is] highly intelligent," Monken said. "You saw it. There's a lot to work with there. We just got to refine it."
Last season, the Browns had four healthy quarterbacks on the roster in training camp -- Sanders, Gabriel, Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett -- but traded Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of final cuts.
In 2024, Cleveland kept four quarterbacks on its initial 53-man roster: Watson, Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Tyler Huntley. The Browns then released Huntley two days after the cut-down deadline.