Browns QBs await decision on any 'earth-shattering or earth-shaking changes' to camp reps

BEREA — There was none of the typical training camp hustle and bustle on the practice fields at the Browns facility on July 27. That's normal for what was the first off day of camp.

Inside of the building, however, there was the activity that will set the course of the next week — at least — of the centerpiece of Browns training camp. Although the players may be off, the coaching staff will be huddled up determining what direction they go with the battle to be the first quarterback up when the season opens against the Cincinnati Bengals.

"Yeah, it'll be a great meeting on Sunday because we'll have these four days, which are block one, and then next week we start putting the pads on, which is great," quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave said before the third camp practice on July 25. "The more we can simulate game-type situations for the QBs, the better, the better off they'll be. So next week will be important, and I don't know if there'll be any earth-shattering or earth-shaking changes."

The first four days of camp, as well as most of the offseason program in May and early June, has centered around a somewhat two-pronged competition. There have been experienced starters Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett on one hand, and rookie draft picks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders on the other.

Within those days, especially since camp began on July 23, has been some tweaking here or there in terms of the format. There's been more or less 11-on-11 reps for a given quarterback on a given day, and who has worked with the first unit — specifically, the first offensive line — has at least changed a bit between Flacco, Pickett and Gabriel.

The overall breakdown, however, has been relatively close in terms of number of team sets for each quarterback. Team sets, it should be noted, are 11-on-11s, seven-on-sevens and modified seven-on-seven where there's an offensive line in front but the defensive line is comprised of reserve offensive linemen who only take a couple of steps off the snap.

"There's a bunch of reps to go around in terms of mentally, physically, the combination, but pressing, I don't believe in that," Gabriel, the third-round pick out of Oregon, said July 25. "I'm a true believer in just being consistent, being right where your feet are and maximizing the reps you do get. The moment you're thinking about the reps you don't have, you're not focusing on the reps you do have."

Through four days of camp, the Browns have collectively run 42 such sets total. The breakdown of how many sets for each quarterback is 12 for Gabriel, 11 for Pickett, 10 for Sanders and nine for Flacco.

Those sets, though, tell only part of the story. The sets with the first unit/offensive line — and against the first defensive unit — tell a slightly different story, with eight such series going to Flacco, seven to Pickett and four to Gabriel.

"It's really, like I said, a day at a time," Pickett said July 24. "You don't know what you're going to get that day. You're just showing up and prepared to, I mean, I think every guy here is prepared to go play the entire practice. That's kind how I look at it. You don't know what you're going to get, so whatever schedule for that day, I want to make sure that I know everything inside and out, so whatever reps I do get, I can take advantage of it."

It's those numbers that are the ones to pay attention to when the Browns resume camp practices on July 28. How much they change could signal a true pivot point in the direction of the competition.

The next five practices — July 28-30 then, after an off day, Aug. 1-2 — will be the last full week of work the Browns can do as a team before they transition into the joint practice/preseason games portion of camp. They'll have a joint practice in Charlotte on Aug. 6 before an Aug. 8 preseason opener at the Carolina Panthers, plus two joint practices Aug. 13-14 in Philadelphia before the second preseason game Aug. 16 at the Philadelphia Eagles.

“It's tough to have expectations," Flacco said July 24. "I think there's been some communication between probably all the quarterbacks and Kevin so, yeah, I guess I know a little bit what to expect at least for the next week, but you can't ask me. It's hard for me to tell what it's going to look like two, three weeks from now.”

The one who's been absent from first-team drills has been Sanders, a fifth-round pick from Colorado. Although he hasn't worked with the No. 1s, over the last two days of camp he has at least gotten some reps with the second unit, as well an extended time on a separate field during the modified red-zone seven-on-seven period on the fourth day of camp.

Sanders, who spoke before the third day of camp, wasn't allowing the lack of reps with a specific grouping to throw him off. Instead, he was still using the reps he wasn't in as a way to continue to learn an offense that's still relatively new to him.

"I would say just have a deeper level of understanding, because I know whenever I get my opportunity I got to maximize it," he said. "So that's something you have to change in the mentality standpoint, and the mental standpoint is, 'OK, I just got to think about what I could do to get better even if I'm not getting reps.' It's no problem."

Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns QBs await decision on any 'earth-shaking changes' to camp reps