Dillon Gabriel’s frustration boiled over as the Pittsburgh Steelers handed him a second loss as a starter.
Fresh off the back of a defeat to the Minnesota Vikings in London, the Cleveland Browns rookie threw the ball 52 times in a 29-9 rout.
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Aaron Rodgers’ experience told in a comfortable victoryCredit: Getty
Gabriel completed 29 passes for 221 yards and no touchdowns.
The Steelers had six sacks as the Browns struggled against at elite pass rush.
At one point, Gabriel was annoyed at Pittsburgh linebacker Patrick Queen, who hit him just after a throw.
The QB grabbed his rival’s jersey and appeared to make contact with his knee in a viral video.
Some fans were happy that Gabriel was showing some fight in his second start, but others thought he crossed a line.
“Little man syndrome,” wrote one.
Another asked: “What is he doing?????”
“Now if that was Sheduer people would lose it and I don’t want to hear anything otherwise,” a third noted in reference to backup Shedeur Sanders‘ perceived negative treatment.
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Sanders was promoted to No. 2 after Week 1 starter Joe Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals.
But despite Gabriel taking so much punishment, head coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t think about putting in his fifth-round pick.
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Shedeur’s time could be coming after the Browns fell to 1-5Credit: Getty
“No,” he said when asked if he considered a change. “We were just trying to fight there till the end.”
Stefanski thought his team didn’t do enough to protect Gabriel.
“He’s a tough kid. We’ve got to keep him clean. Obviously, when the game turns into how it turned a two-score game, you have to drop back, and that’s a tough team to drop back versus,” he said. “He kept battling. Wasn’t for a lack of effort by him or by anybody.
“Made some plays, but we just got to be better. I think you learn in every game, win, lose or draw.
“And obviously, we know this kid’s tough. We know he’s tough. He’s going to keep fighting. We just got to around him, make some plays. We got to coach him up.”
“I don’t think anyone had any misunderstandings about who he was,” Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said of Gabriel. “I’m not surprised. That’s just the man he is.”
“He was very composed in the pocket and in the huddle,” Browns guard Joel Bitonio added. “None of that was ever bad. I think he even found himself a little bit as we went along. There were some bright spots there.”
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“There’s a lot of ways I can be better to help them and we can work through certain things,” Gabriel said.
“But within plays, it ain’t going to be perfect. It never will.”
Shedeur entered the NFL with plenty of hype thanks to Hall of Fame dad Deion.
His mom Pilar also made headlines as she celebrated his promotion to backup QB with what seemed to be a cryptic dig at Gabriel.
In a video she uploaded to her Instagram of her cooking, she was asked if it was a celebratory meal.
“Are you cooking all that for Shedeur being named QB2?” the comment read.
She responded with, “For Shedeur’s yes – we know 2 has always been 1 – the matrix will try to make u believe anything hahahahah – never fall for tall tales.”
The Browns play the struggling Miami Dolphins in Week 7 with plenty of questions set to be asked about both quarterbacks before then.
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