The forgotten man in the Cleveland quarterback rotation is forcing himself into the conversation by performing well in practice. But Dillon Gabriel has yet to officially enter the competition to win the starting quarterback job with the Browns.
Does he feel disrespected by that?
“Never disrespected,” Gabriel told reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t take things personally, it’s a business. I’m focused on what I need to do to get better, and that’s all I’m focused on. I’m present with that.”
Gabriel also was asked whether he believes earning more reps gives him a chance to seize the job.
“I’m really just focused on mastering my reps,” Gabriel said. “I really appreciate [pass game coordinator] Danny Bryer and [senior director of player development] James Cook. James Cook and [offensive skill development specialist] Demetric Felton are big on walkthroughs in the morning, which helps set me up for a good day. And afterwards with Danny Bryer, a guy I’ve really leaned on, getting coached up — three or five reps, talking through it as best I can and improving. And same with [assistant quarterbacks] coach [Matt] Baker, he’s been really good for me.”
Contributing to the perception that Gabriel is an afterthought is the manner in which he was strong-armed into giving up No. 8 to Jared Verse. Dillon was asked about his new number, 6.
“Yeah, I don’t really care about numbers,” Gabriel said. “My freshman year in high school, I remember I got pulled up to varsity wearing 96. . . . No, no attachment to any numbers. There may be some cool things to certain numbers that everyone tells themselves once they get a new number, but for the most part it’s just a number.”
That’s the right attitude. Although some players believe their number becomes part of their identity, it’s simply a mechanical feature allowing the officials and the opponent to more easily track the player. There’s no real reason to become emotionally invested in it.
Players change teams. When they do, they change uniforms. Changing the number on a uniform is no different. For Gabriel, the far more important number is the one he’ll eventually be assigned on the depth chart.
