The Cleveland Browns admitted making a mistake with Dillon Gabriel during a 27-20 loss to the New York Jets that put their rookie quarterback in a bad position.
Down just one score, the Browns faced a critical fourth-and-one in the second half. But instead of running the ball with Quinshon Judkins, new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees called a pass. Gabriel had some options but was ultimately sacked for a seven-yard loss that ended the important possession.
“Look as a play caller, there’s always things you want back,” Rees said on Thursday. “Felt like we put our guys in position to have success throughout the game and then, when you do that and you don’t have success, you always look to why and what you can do during the week to help your players have that success. There’s going to be a handful of calls that you make that the defense won the rep, and that happens in football throughout a game.”
A reporter pointed out that Gabriel had an open option on the play, and Rees conceded again that they shouldn’t have put their rookie quarterback in that situation.
“Yeah, I should have run the ball,” Rees said. “I don’t want to get into the specifics of the play itself. You can freeze almost any play and say, ‘Hey, this guy’s open, this guy’s open.’ I want to make sure I’m putting our players in the right spot. I made a call, an aggressive one, it didn’t work and we got to move on to the next.”
The Browns’ offense showed some brief flashes of competency against the Jets. But overall, it was still a sloppy, inconsistent showing from the unit that is averaging just 16.2 points per game this season.
The results haven’t been there with Gabriel, who had a few costly misses against the Jets. Still, Rees said the issues haven’t stemmed from his decision-making or where his eyes are supposed to be.
“We always grade that part of them and he grades out pretty high,” Rees said. “Look, nobody’s going to bat a thousand. I don’t bat a thousand calling it. Nobody’s going to bat a thousand in really anything they do. But I would say he grades out where we want him. Dillon’s prep and where he is mentally for a rookie is really well beyond. He’s mature in that way and we want to make sure that those things that are happening during the week, we go ahead and execute them on Sundays.”
One of the Browns’ objectives has been to get the ball to Jerry Jeudy more often. Jeudy was a Pro Bowler last season but entered Sunday’s matchup with just 22 catches in eight games.
While the Browns lost, they were able to get Jeudy more involved. He snagged a season-high six catches for 78 yards and his first touchdowns of the year.
“Jerry does a lot of things well, and I’ll just say we’re trying to put him in a position to do those things in the right spots, in the right moments,” Rees said. “And, you know, we talked last week, when you get your good players going early, usually helps them throughout the game. So, Jerry’s a very talented guy who’s worked extremely hard, and, you know, he put himself in that position to have success.”
Jeudy and the Browns face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Cleveland is a 9.5-point underdog for the matchup.
Ahead of their huge Week 11 showdown with the Lions, the Philadelphia Eagles performed a pair of practice squad transactions. The Eagles signed ED Titus Leo and released CB Ambry Thomas in a corresponding move.
Leo is a former sixth-round pick of the Colts in 2023 out of Wagner. He spent his rookie season on the Colts practice squad before being picked up by the Patriots in 2024. That year, he appeared in four games for New England and totaled four tackles and a pass defensed. He was subsequently waived and picked up by the Titans, who waived him back in August. This is Leo’s second stint on Philly’s practice squad this season.
Thomas is a former third-round pick by the 49ers out of Michigan back in 2021. He made an immediate impact as a rookie, appearing in 12 games with 23 tackles, an interception and five passes defensed. In 2022, he had just 13 tackles in 15 games but bounced back in his third season in 2023. That year, he had 43 tackles, an interception, seven passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Thomas has not appeared in an NFL game since 2023.
Going into the November 4 league trade deadline, the Eagles had two primary goals: add some pass rush help and improve their cornerback depth chart. They accomplished the first by sending a third-round pick to the Dolphins for former first-round ED Jaelan Phillips. Once viewed as one of the best young pass rushers in the league, Phillips has been hampered by injury the last few seasons but is still a powerful force off the edge when healthy.
Meanwhile, at cornerback, Philadelphia made two trades. First, they sent WR John Metchie III to the Jets for CB Michael Carter II, one of the league’s premier slot corners. They also traded a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Ravens for CB Jaire Alexander and a 2027 seventh-round pick.
Alexander is a former first-round pick by the Packers who had a stretch for a few seasons when he was one of the best cornerbacks in the league. Much like with Phillips, injuries killed his career momentum, and he was looking for a fresh start in Baltimore this season.
But earlier this week, Alexander informed the Eagles that he will be stepping away from football for a time as he contemplates retirement. He was a healthy scratch in his last game for the Ravens, perhaps indicating this was a possibility before it was more widely known.
With the trade deadline having come and gone, there won’t be any significant additions to the room this year. The Eagles will have to work with what they already have in-house.
The good news is that Philadelphia has one of the league’s best young cornerback tandems in the league with Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. The bad news is that their third starting spot is still in flux. Between Carter, Adoree’ Jackson, Kelee Ringo, and Jakorian Bennett, they have some options. But it remains to be seen how effective they are.