No one ever wishes for injuries to happen in any sport, but when they do happen to players — especially starters — others are expected to step up in their place. Browns presumed starter Kenny Pickett will miss at least a week, according to Adam Shcefter of ESPN, meaning Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders will all get more reps at Browns camp in the coming week.
It's probably not how Sanders wanted to (temporarily) move up the Browns depth chart, but in the NFL, you take any opportunity that is presented to you, and Sanders will more than likely work more with the first team offense now without a clear starter in the mix.
Kenny Pickett will be sidelined with hamstring injury
Pickett's ailment doesn't sound overly serious, and he'll be reevaluated in a week, but a lot can happen in one week in training camp. These are the times when rookies show they belong in the league, when backups wedge their way into competitions with starters and when team really get a feel for what their starting 11 on both sides may look like come September.
Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel are locked in unique QB competition
It's not often that two rookies from the same draft are part of a QB competition at camp, but that's the case with Sanders and Gabriel, both 2025 draft picks. Gabriel was actually picked before Sanders, but the hype train for the latter has much more steam than the former as the two were basically battling for backup (or even third string) QB duties before Pickett's injury, and will now both likely take first-team reps as their chance to enter the starter conversation has come early.
The Browns knew they'd be entertaining a lot of attention when they drafted two QBs in the draft, with one being as high-profile a figure as Shedeur Sanders. But now the on-field part of it all holds a little more weight as the rookies have real chances to prove why they should take the field Week 1.