Dillon Gabriel’s path with the Cleveland Browns just got even harder to read.
The Browns have placed the rookie quarterback on Injured Reserve because of a back injury he suffered in the team’s final preseason game, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That move means Gabriel will miss the first four games of the season before he becomes eligible to return.
Gabriel had been in a strange spot already after the Browns’ quarterback battle left him on the outside looking in. Drafted in the third round of the 2025 draft, he entered the offseason as a possible cut or trade candidate, and Sunday was supposed to offer some clarity on where he might fit in 2026. Instead, the situation only became murkier.
The timing is especially notable because Gabriel turned in a sharp finish to the preseason. In Cleveland’s final exhibition, he completed 12 of 15 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-13 win over the New England Patriots. There was no obvious moment when he appeared to get hurt, but the back issue now has him sidelined to open the year.
During Gabriel’s absence, the Browns are set to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers, with Deshaun Watson starting and Shedeur Sanders backing him up.
When Gabriel is eligible to come back, Cleveland will have to decide whether to activate him to the active game-day roster or move him to the practice squad. If he’s healthy by then, that call will be waiting for the Browns at the end of the four-game stretch.
In Other News...
Former Oregon QB Austin Novosad Faces Another Uncertain Turn
Austin Novosads path has taken another twist since leaving Oregon, where he had slipped to third on the Ducks quarterback depth chart before transferring to Bowling Green. What looked like a clean chance to reset with a fresh start now comes with a familiar dose of uncertainty, as the former Duck arrived with expectations of competing for the job right away.
Bowling Green coach Eddie George instead went in another direction, naming Jay Kastanin the starter and leaving Novosad in a backup role. For a quarterback who transferred in search of opportunity, the latest development only adds to the questions surrounding where Novosad fits next and how much runway he will have to prove he can still be the answer under center. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Alum Patrick Herbert Just Got An NFL Chance To Prove Himself
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For Oregon fans, the most interesting part is the reunion waiting in Los Angeles. Patrick will be around his brother Justin Herbert, the Chargers starting quarterback, while he works to turn a practice-squad opportunity into something more permanent. For a player trying to prove he belongs, it is the kind of chance that can lead to a bigger one if he can keep pushing toward the active roster. [Read more 🡒]
Former Oregon Ducks Are Facing Very Different NFL Paths After Cuts
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The post-cutdown picture was not uniform, though, and that is what makes this stretch of the calendar so volatile for former college standouts. Some ex-Ducks ended up on injured reserve or worked through injury settlements, while others were able to survive the roster squeeze and make 53-man rosters elsewhere, leaving a familiar Oregon pipeline scattered across the NFL with very different short-term outlooks. [Read more 🡒]