Patriots corner Christian Gonzalez calls out Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel

“Dillon over there, he’s making plays, he has no turnovers,” commented a very animated Christian Gonzalez, cornerback for New England, regarding this week’s game. “We wanna get the ball off of him. They got receivers, they got a lot of good football players over there. So it’s gonna be a challenge for us, but we’re excited for it.”

Gonzalez’ tone anticipates an obvious eagerness to force Gabriel’s first turnover(s) of the season. The remarks come at a time of widespread criticism of Gabriel’s conservative style of play -- one that has helped him avoid costly mistakes, but also appears to be impeding offensive progress.

Former Browns’ Pro Bowler Josh Cribbs, while advocating for Cleveland to give fifth-round rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders a chance to prove himself, put that sentiment into words on The BIGPLAY Sports Network’s “The Top Dawgs Show” by explaining it’s “not because Dillon is doing so bad, because he's not doing good enough."

The Browns are coming off a dominant 31-6 victory over Miami, but rookie rushing sensation Quinshon Judkins ran three scores in, while Gabriel was only able to muster 116 passing yards in the game.

The Patriots’ defense, fifth in the league in points allowed per game at 19.0, is also tied eighth in the league in the forced turnovers department, with nine. To date, they have picked off five passes, coincidentally, the same total as the Browns have.

So while avoiding giving up the ball due to costly mistakes should go a long way in helping the Browns not lose the match against the surprising 5-2 Patriots, it seems logical to expect a much better aerial output from Gabriel’s left arm in order to actually march into Gillette Stadium and walk out with a win on Sunday.