Browns QBs breakdown, training camp Day 5 | Joe Flacco benefits from extra reps with 1s

BEREA — The Kenny Pickett injury news made an obvious impact in the distribution of reps for the Browns' quarterback competition.

Pickett, who sustained a hamstring injury during the July 26 practice, will be sidelined until he's reevaluated this week. That simply meant more reps for the other three quarterbacks: Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

That all came on the heels of an off day July 27. It also coincided with the first day of padded practices.

The Browns formatted the first full-pad practice to be heavy on 11-on-11 periods after the first half hour. There was one period from the 35, with Flacco getting one series with the first unit, Sanders getting a series with the second unit and Gabriel getting a series with the first and second units back-to-back.

Flacco worked with the ones and Gabriel with the twos in an abbreviated full-field 11-on-11 before a special-teams break. The final 11-on-11 period saw Flacco run with the ones, Gabriel with the twos and Sanders with the threes.

Left guard Joel Bitonio and defensive end Myles Garrett were dressed for practice but had veterans' days off. Right tackle Jack Conklin was in for the final two 11-on-11 period.

Here's a look at what each of the four quarterbacks did during those group and team periods.

Joe Flacco's Browns training camp highlights July 28

• Flacco was the clear No. 1 unit quarterback all day, save for one 11-on-11 series from the 35, and looked comfortable for the most part.
• The five 11-on-11 plays from the 35 for Flacco three passes and two runs. One pass was a swing route to running back Pierre Strong, and another was a screen to tight end David Njoku.
• Flacco's other pass in the session was a nice catch in traffic on a crosing route by Cedric Tillman, who was back on the field doing full drills for the first time since leaving with a lower leg injury on July 25.
• Flacco had five plays, withytwo being runs and another being his own run while pressured. The scramble garnered noticeable cheers from the fans in attendance.
• Flacco's two passes were a first-play deep curl to Kaden Davis and a deep route that was too long to Jerry Jeudy, which was well covered by cornerback Martin Emerson Jr.
• The final 11-on-11 period for Flacco involved six plays, three of which were runs. One of those was a handoff to rookie Dylan Sampson, who would be decleated by fellow rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger.
• Flacco completed two of his three passes: Blake Whiteheart caught an out route and Jerry Jeudy caught a curl route. Davis was tightly covered on a deep hitch route that went incomplete.

Dillon Gabriel's Browns training camp highlights July 28

• Gabriel had six 11-on-11 plays from the 35, split evenly between the first and second units.
• The first play with the first unit was a run by Strong and the last a fumbled snap that he dirted under pressure. In between, he found Jeudy on a curl while he was rolling out to the right.
• His three second-unit plays included a slant to Gage Larvadain, a run by Toa Taua and a play-action pass to tight end Brendan Bates that was wide and incomplete.
• Gabriel was 2-of-3 in his five-play series with the second unit in the second 11-on-11 period. That included an impressive diving catch by Diontae Johnson on an out route, and an out route to Jamari Thrash.
• The first play of that series, Gabriel had to run due to pressure. There was also an Ahmani Marshall run in the series.
• Gabriel's final 11-on-11 series was a six-play one where he went 3-for-4, with the lone incompletion coming when his roll-out pass to Bates fell incomplete.
• The completions were on an out route to tight end Sal Cannella, a nice grab on an out route by Johnson, with a crossing route to Luke Floriea to close things out.

Kenny Pickett's Browns training camp highlights July 28

• Pickett was sidelined by the hamstring injury sustained on July 26. He will be reevaluated later this week.

Shedeur Sanders' Browns training camp highlights July 28

• Sanders had his four series of camp with the second unit during the 11-on-11 from the 35 period. It marked the third consecutive camp day where he got reps with the second unit.
• Floriea caught two of his four passes, one on an out route and the other on a swing route.
• Taua caught an out route as well.
• Sanders' best throw was on a play where the pressure from the defense may have resulted in a sack had they been whistling plays dead. However, since he was allowed to continue the play, he threw a strike to Larvadain, who made a nice grab in the back of the end zone and got both feet down.
• Sanders' only other reps came with the threes in the final 11-on-11 series. He was 4-for-4 on the six-play series, which included a dump-off to Marshall where he had to step up to avoid the pressure.
• The other completions were an out to Floriea, a crossing route to Larvadain and a final-play touchdown on a corner route to Cannella.

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 quarterbacks, Joe Flacco's highlights training camp Day 5