For Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski , who has dealt with veteran personalities and high-stakes quarterback controversies before, managing rookie Shedeur Sanders alongside Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel was never going to be simple. Yet even with the intrigue of Sanders’s presence, Stefanski’s role in shaping the Browns’ quarterback depth chart may be more limited than outsiders expect.
It is not Stefanski calling the shots when it comes to quarterback decisions for the Browns, according to The Athletic Football Show’s Robert Mays. The brutal early-season schedule—the opener against the Bengals and then into the gauntlet of Ravens , Packers , Lions , Vikings , and Steelers has essentially dictated the plan. “Joe Flacco was always gonna play the first game,”