The Cleveland Browns are 0-2 and have scored just 33 total points so far, but coach Kevin Stefanski claimed that the team isn’t considering a change at quarterback.
Joe Flacco started the first two games of the season and has not been effective. Late in Sunday’s 41-17 road blowout at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, he was replaced by rookie Dillon Gabriel, who led a touchdown drive.
Asked if the Browns will think about a permanent change, Stefanski answered in the negative.
“I don’t think we did good enough. I think that collectively as a team, we as an offense, we as the coaching staff, all of us didn’t do a good enough job,” Stefanski said.
Flacco, 40, finished the day 25-for-45 passing for 199 yards — just 4.4 yards per attempt — with one touchdown and one interception. He also lost a fumble. He had 290 passing yards and a touchdown in a Week 1 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals but was picked off twice.
Gabriel, 24, made his NFL debut in the fourth quarter and completed all three of his passes for 19 yards, the last one an 8-yard touchdown to Dylan Sampson.
Gabriel is the second-string quarterback on Cleveland’s depth chart, and Shedeur Sanders is the third-stringer. Both were taken in the middle rounds of the NFL draft this past April.
Flacco, who was given the starting job in camp at the outset of his 18th NFL season, said he can’t worry about his job security.
“It’s honestly not on my mind,” Flacco said. “I got to go out there and just play my game, play the way I know how to. Lead this team the best I can. All that other stuff, it is out of my control. It is what it is. I mean, the only thing I can control is how I play and how this team shows up every day. So, it really isn’t in the thought process.”
