The Browns will finish their preseason slate tonight at Huntington Bank Field, and the main attraction may not be the scoreboard so much as the final auditions.
Cleveland hosts New England in an 8 p.m. kickoff, and with the initial 53-man roster cutdown coming on August 30, the coaching staff is going to spend plenty of time sorting through the back end of the roster. That’s the real job here: finding out who has done enough to stick.
The quarterback situation has been the louder story all week after head coach Todd Monken named Deshaun Watson the starter over Shedeur Sanders, stirring plenty of frustration among Browns fans who have long since grown tired of Watson. Monken had already made clear at the start of training camp that the decision would not come down to popularity, and that’s where things stand.
Tonight, though, Watson isn’t the storyline on the field. Dillon Gabriel will start at quarterback, with rookie Taylen Green taking over after him.
It gives Cleveland a chance to see how much Gabriel has progressed since his rookie season, even though he won’t have any starters around him. And then there’s Green, who gets the kind of late-game spotlight rookies dream about in the final preseason game.
Green sounded ready for it: “Oh, I’m excited. I’ve got family coming to town.
It’s a night game, lights out. It’s going to be a dream come true.
Just being out there and being a Cleveland Brown, who wouldn’t want that?”
Who indeed.
The game will be shown by Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung on the sideline. On the radio side, fans can catch it on 850 ESPN Cleveland, 98.5 WNCX, 92.3 The Fan WKRK and 1300 AM La Mega in Spanish. Andrew Siciliano, Nathan Zegura and Jerod Cherry will handle the radio call, with Cherry on the sidelines.
Cleveland will wear white jerseys and white pants to close out the preseason.
In Other News...
Browns Preseason Rout Put Two Encouraging Storylines In Focus
Dillon Gabriels preseason showing gave Cleveland a useful glimpse at how the quarterback rotation can look when things are clicking. He guided multiple scoring drives in the Browns 37-13 win over New England, and the connection with Luke Floriea stood out with two touchdown passes. For a team still sorting through roster battles and depth-chart questions, it was the kind of clean offensive work that can make August snaps feel meaningful.
The Browns also got what they wanted on the other side of the ball, with the defense stacking up interceptions and sacks while keeping the Patriots from settling in. New England cycled through Tommy DeVito, Behren Morton and Taylen Green at quarterback, but Cleveland controlled the game enough to leave the bigger takeaway on its own sideline. The performance added to two encouraging storylines the Browns can carry deeper into the preseason, even if the real test is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Just Sent A Strong Message In Final Roster Crunch
The Browns 37-13 preseason win over New England did more than pad an August box score. It gave Cleveland one more reminder that the roster it is carrying into the season has started to look deeper and more organized than the one across the field, especially when the game shifted into the kinds of snaps where fringe players are fighting for jobs.
Mike Vrabel came away pointing to the Patriots depth and coverage issues, with the secondary drawing particular concern as the regular season gets closer. For the Browns, the takeaway is less about style points than confidence in the final roster crunch, where every clean series and every reliable reserve matters when cuts and roles are being sorted out. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Just Made Their Quarterback Problem Even Tougher To Solve
The Browns left their preseason finale with a quarterback room that suddenly looks more crowded than clarified. Deshaun Watson is still in the mix, but Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green both turned in promising showings, giving Cleveland more to weigh as it sorts through four passers for a roster that is expected to shrink before the regular season.
Shedeur Sanders is also part of the equation, which only adds to the difficulty of a decision that already carries obvious long-term implications. Cleveland now has to decide which three quarterbacks fit best, and with Gabriel and Green making their case, the final cut may say as much about the Browns future as it does about their immediate plans. [Read more 🡒]