Daniel Oyefusi
Cleveland Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett injured his hamstring near the end of Saturday’s practice and is expected to be re-evaluated later this week, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Sunday.
Pickett was coming off a strong couple of practices, and at least for the short term there will now be more reps for Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. The four quarterbacks are competing to be the Browns’ starter this fall.
Pickett, the No. 20 overall pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2022 NFL draft, took the final snaps of practice Saturday for a red zone drill and threw a touchdown on the final play while rolling to his right.
Through the first week of training camp, Pickett split first-team reps with Flacco, while Gabriel, a third-round pick, also got a few reps with the starters. Sanders, a fifth-round pick, has not received any snaps with the first-team offense.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said that the QB rotation would be fluid during the first week of camp and that he and the offensive staff would meet to discuss any changes for the second week. The Browns are holding their first padded practice Monday.
Before Pickett’s injury, Musgrave predicted that there would not be any major changes to the rotation.
“Next week will be important, and I don’t know if there’ll be any earth-shattering or earth-shaking changes,” Browns quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave said Friday. “I think it’ll be a lot more of the same. All four guys are really making good progress, and [offensive coordinator] Tommy [Rees] and Kevin are doing a great job at getting everybody their looks.”
The Browns traded a fifth-round pick and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the Philadelphia Eagles for Pickett in March. Cleveland declined to pick up Pickett’s fifth-year option, making him a free agent after the 2025 season.
