The Browns are in emergency mode with their quarterback room and are in the process of developing another emergency plan.
Veteran Joe Flacco will work out for the Browns on Friday, a team source said. Cleveland lost starting quarterback Deshaun Watson to a shoulder injury this week.
The Browns will likely add a third quarterback to the practice squad before they begin practice next week. Currently, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson is the starter and PJ Walker is the backup. Walker began the season on the practice squad and started the last two games Watson missed, but the Browns are giving Thompson-Robinson a second start on Sunday against the Steelers.
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Given the Browns’ lack of experienced options following Watson’s injury, the 38-year-old Flacco seems to make some sense as a potential option.
Flacco made four starts for the New York Jets last year – and beat the Browns in a wild comeback in the final two minutes early last season. Flacco has nine wins as a starter at Cleveland Browns Stadium, including eight in his 11 seasons as a starter for the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens drafted Flacco in the first round in 2008, and Flacco spent one season with the Denver Broncos and three with the Jets after leaving the Ravens in 2019.
Flacco expressed interest in re-signing with the Jets following Aaron Rodgers’ injury, but the team decided to stick with Zach Wilson and Tim Boyle and ultimately added Trevor Siemian to the practice squad.
This marks the 10th time since the Browns returned to the league in 1999 that they have had to use at least three starting quarterbacks in a season. At 6-3, the Browns enter the weekend trailing Baltimore (8-3) in the AFC North, but are in the thick of the AFC playoff race and will look to improve their defense to their first playoff appearance since to strengthen in 2020. Watson, who started six games, will have surgery next week to repair a broken bone in his throwing shoulder.
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Most notably, Flacco is the only quarterback who practices for the Browns. That suggests there are no real options at this point in the post-trade deadline, and it probably also means that Flacco is the most likely quarterback to be on the Browns’ practice squad by Monday. If the Browns were to sign a passer from another team’s practice squad, they would have to guarantee that player three weeks on the active roster. And right now, the team’s focus is on Thompson-Robinson playing well and maintaining the starting position.
The Browns drafted Thompson-Robinson in the fifth round in April, hoping he could become Watson’s long-term backup. Now the team is hoping that Thompson-Robinson can simply be competent and efficient — and that there’s no reason for the Browns to move to Flacco or another option in the remaining eight games.
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(Photo: Nick Cammett/Getty Images)