https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/browns-qbs-shedeur-sanders-dillon-gabriel-bailey-zappe-earning-reps-while-running-scout-team-offense-165027236.html
The Cleveland Browns are taking a unique approach at developing their quarterback depth while preparing for Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave said all three of the team’s young signal callers — Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and Bailey Zappe — have been leading the scout team to help the Browns defense.
“I’d say it’s a little bit different. It’s exciting because those guys do take pride in getting the defense ready,” Musgrave said, via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “They want to do a good job of replicating the opponent’s offense and at the same time, they want to try to relate any play that they get to our game plan for that week too, so they can feel like they can get a little double duty.”
This helps explain reports earlier in the week that said Sanders wasn’t getting any practice reps because Zappe was running the scout team. In reality, the QBs are rotating scout-team duties.
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Trying to simulate what Jackson brings is a difficult task, but it’s also good experience for the Browns’ quarterbacks, with rookies Gabriel and Sanders earning valuable reps and Zappe, who’s on the practice squad, trying to improve in his fourth NFL season.
“At times, the concepts resemble what we would run here with the Browns and at times it’s completely foreign,” Musgrave added. “But the fact that they’re out there and having to make decisions and process and then deliver throws accurately, all that is really good. We try to engineer it or orchestrate it where certain concepts almost meet our quarterbacks. So I’d say last week Bailey did some really good things that tried to replicate Joe Burrow.”
The Browns dropped their Week 1 game to the Cincinnati Bengals 17-16 and their early-season schedule does not get easier. After facing the Ravens, they will match up with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, and Pittsburgh Steelers through Week 6.
Browns starter Joe Flacco is 40 and not in the franchise’s long-term plans at the position. After drafting Gabriel in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft and Sanders in the fifth round, the hope is that one of them, if not Zappe with his NFL experience, will prove themselves worthy of the No. 1 quarterback title in time.
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As of now, Gabriel is listed second on the depth chart with Sanders at No. 3 while serving as the emergency backup during games.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/browns-qbs-shedeur-sanders-dillon-gabriel-bailey-zappe-earning-reps-while-running-scout-team-offense-165027236.html
