CLEVELAND — A long summer of work, evaluation decision and change all led up to Week 1 of the 2025 season and as the Cleveland Browns hosted the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field to kick the year off, they did so with a tough loss to start things off.

The Browns named Joe Flacco their starting quarterback for the season before the final preseason game. Flacco had split reps throughout the summer in a four-player competition between himself, Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders—but reclaimed the QB1 he held back in 2023 at the end of training camp.

On Sunday, Flacco showed off his veteran cool, a perfect 6-for-6 on the opening drive, connecting with tight end Harold Fannin Jr., running back Dylan Sampson, and wide receivers Cedric Tillman and Isaiah Bond

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