CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns rookie Dillon Gabriel showed flashes of potential in his first NFL start. It's up to coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff to make sure that continues over the next couple of weeks.
Gabriel completed 19 of 33 passes for 190 yards, two touchdowns and a 94.3 passer rating in Sunday's 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. The third-round pick is only the fourth Browns rookie to throw for multiple touchdowns in his first start.
“For a young player in that environment versus that defense to take care of the ball, make the plays he made, I thought was a lot of positives with plenty to clean up,” Stefanski said Monday after the Browns got back from overseas. “That’s what he will do, and that’s the mentality he has, certainly to be a player that continues to get better week in and week out.”
The Vikings traditionally are one of the top blitzing teams in the league, but defensive coordinator Brian Flores rushed five or more on only 30.6% of pass plays. It was only the eighth time in 39 regular-season games since Flores has been with Minnesota that the blitz rate has been under 31%.
Gabriel showed he was up to the challenge. He completed 12 of 17 quick passes (under 2.5 seconds) for 100 yards and two touchdowns. According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, Gabriel's average time to throw was 2.54 seconds — 0.3 seconds faster than veteran Joe Flacco's average over the first four weeks of the season.
Gabriel was also solid despite most of the Browns' practices in London being walk-throughs.
One area where Gabriel and the offense must show improvement is third down. The Browns converted all three of their fourth-down attempts, but were 3 of 15 on third down. Cleveland had an average to-go distance of 7.5 yards on third down, their third straight game the average has been in third-and-long territory.
“I thought by and large he was getting through progressions. I thought he did a good job moving in the pocket when he needed to. But bottom line is you have to try to find a way to stay on the field, and a lot of times it’s your ability to be efficient on first and second down and put you in some manageable third downs that will allow that,” Stefanski said.
The other area where Gabriel will need to get better is downfield passing. He had one attempt of over 20 air yards — a 21-yard completion to Isaiah Bond on the final drive — and was 3 of 10 for 61 yards on passes of 10-19 air yards.
The running game. Second-round pick Quinshon Judkins had his first 100-yard game with 110 yards on 23 carries, the first Browns rookie to cross the century mark since Nick Chubb in 2018. Judkins had 14 carries for 92 yards when running right. Jerome Ford was productive in the limited time he got with five carries for 18 yards.
Time management. The Browns took only 22 seconds off the clock when they went three-and-out with 3:05 remaining. The Vikings got the ball on their own 20 and went 80 yards in 10 plays, culminating in Jordan Addison's game-winning 12-yard TD catch from Carson Wentz with 25 seconds remaining.
DE Maliek Collins had the fifth two-sack game of his 10-year career and has 3 1/2 on the season.
WR Jerry Jeudy had another critical third-down drop during the first half and finished with two receptions for 15 yards. He was targeted only once in the second half.
DE Mike Hall (knee) has yet to play this season.
3 — Runs of at least 30 yards by Judkins in his first four games.
21 — Receptions for tight end Harold Fannin Jr., tied for the most by a Browns rookie through five games.
The Browns visit the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1), who had a bye after a 24-21 win over the Vikings in Dublin in Week 4.
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