The Cleveland Browns quarterback battle is one of the top stories in the 2025 NFL preseason, with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders competing for jobs. The competition between the rookies, Gabriel (third-round pick) and Sanders (fifth-round pick), in particular been a huge storyline and discussion point.<\/p>\n
Naturally, that will lead to the radio shows, debate shows, and social media personalities offering various takes and narratives on the subject, but it\u2019s unfortunate \u2014 and frankly disappointing \u2014 when such tactics carry over to official league outlets.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the official NFL X,<\/a> Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, and TikTok<\/a> accounts shared a clip of an interview between Gabriel and Browns TV reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala (who is also a reporter for CBS Sports) on the sideline after his preseason debut.<\/p>\n The video \u2014 along with the graphic, caption accompanying the social media posts \u2014 showed Gabriel telling Kinkhabwala, \u201cThere\u2019s entertainers and there\u2019s competitors\u2026 my job is to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s entertainers and there\u2019s competitors\u2026 my job is to compete.\u201d@_dillongabriel_<\/a> is focused in. pic.twitter.com\/FyjcztPPlF<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NFL (@NFL) August 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n That led to social media users making the leap to conclude that Gabriel was taking a shot at Sanders. But the full context of the question and answer were not shared by the NFL and numerous other major outlets.<\/p>\n Prior to those Gabriel comments, Kinkhabwala asked him, \u201cYou gave us some fabulous wisdom on how you tune out the noise and you don\u2019t let it infiltrate yourself; will you share that with everybody at home?\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the question leading up to it for proper context\u2026<\/p>\n Browns QB Dillon Gabriel was asked by Aditi Kinkhabwala, \u201cYou gave us some fabulous wisdom on how you tune out the noise and you don\u2019t let it infiltrate yourself; will you share that with everybody at home?\u201d #NFL<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/saZD2XxgDY<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/XhCSlaDWlu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Kinkhabwala responded to the NFL X post of the clip, writing, \u201cLet\u2019s PLEASE not take this out of context\u201d<\/p>\n Let\u2019s PLEASE not take this out of context. I was so impressed with how sagely \u2013 and sincerely \u2013 Dillon Gabriel talked previously about tuning out distractions. He told us there are entertainers (hot take artists) and there are competitors (he and his fellow QBs) and he doesn\u2019t\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/SuNFUFT1Zu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) August 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s PLEASE not take this out of context. I was so impressed with how sagely \u2013 and sincerely \u2013 Dillon Gabriel talked previously about tuning out distractions. He told us there are entertainers (hot take artists) and there are competitors (he and his fellow QBs) and he doesn\u2019t \u201cever want to get those lines twisted.\u201d I therefore asked him to share his (wise) approach to keeping the external noise from, as he said, \u2018infiltrating,\u2019 with the people watching.<\/p>\n This is as humble and respectful a young man as there is. Don\u2019t malign him by assuming something that isn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n NFL insider Albert Breer of The MMQB and Amazon also called out the NFL official X account posting the clip without necessary context.<\/p>\n It\u2019s kind of unfortunate that the NFL\u2019s official account is tweeting this out without the actual question\u2014which was how Gabriel and the QBs are trying to make sure the outside noise doesn\u2019t infiltrate what\u2019s going on internally.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a shot at Shedeur. https:\/\/t.co\/dSvMtLbIAD<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) August 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of unfortunate that the NFL\u2019s official account is tweeting this out without the actual question\u2014which was how Gabriel and the QBs are trying to make sure the outside noise doesn\u2019t infiltrate what\u2019s going on internally,\u201d Breer posted to X. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a shot at Shedeur.\u201d<\/p>\n After the game, Gabriel made it clear that he was referring to the media as \u201centertainers.\u201d<\/p>\n #Browns<\/a> Dillon Gabriel clarifies he meant the media are the entertainers and he\u2019s a competitor and that he wasn\u2019t taking a shot at Shedeur Sanders: \u201cI\u2019m all about the team\u201d pic.twitter.com\/I4EVCVmmxR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEntertainers are you all,\u201d Gabriel said. \u201cCompetitor, that\u2019s what I am, and all my teammates. We both have jobs to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \t