Browns' Joe Flacco addresses job security after Dillon Gabriel makes NFL debut

Following the Cleveland Browns' 41-17 loss at the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon, Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed that 40-year-old Joe Flacco will remain the club's starting quarterback after rookie Dillon Gabriel made his official NFL debut and tossed his first touchdown pass as a pro late in the game. 

Understandably, Flacco was asked about his job security after the Browns fell to 0-2 on the season.

Joe Flacco not worried about being benched

"I can't worry about that stuff anyway," Flacco said about the subject, per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. "It's honestly not on my mind. 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."

Flacco threw one interception, should've had at least one other pass picked off and lost a fumble in the fourth quarter that was returned for a touchdown in the defeat that Browns star pass-rusher Myles Garrett referred to as "embarrassing." According to ESPN stats, Flacco began Monday ranked 29th in the league among qualified players with a 36.7 adjusted QBR and 31st with a 70.1 passer rating for the campaign. 

"We don't have to go score 50 every night, but we can play good football and put up enough points and let those guys on defense pin their ears back and go do what they do," Flacco added. "Yeah, that's the disappointing part. I think we have the ability to do that right now and then maybe take the next step a few games from now. So hopefully that starts showing up a little bit."

Why Cleveland Browns aren't making QB change

On the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast," Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot suggested the club's "very grueling stretch" of games is why Gabriel will remain Flacco's primary backup until further notice. As of Monday morning, ESPN BET had the Browns as 8.5-point home underdogs for this coming Sunday's game against the 2-0 Green Bay Packers. Following that matchup, Cleveland plays at the 1-1 Detroit Lions on Sept. 28. 

That said, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam admitted during the summer that he "absolutely" would like Gabriel and fellow first-year pro Shedeur Sanders to play against live defenses in meaningful games before Cleveland determines what to do with its two 2026 first-round draft picks.

"I don't think we did good enough," Stefanski said after the Baltimore debacle. "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." 

If the Cleveland offense isn't "good enough" against the Packers, Stefanski could decide that sticking with a past-his-prime version of Flacco is a waste of time for everybody involved.