The Browns clinched a playoff berth in Week 17 to become the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs after starting four different quarterbacks in a season.
For Sunday’s season finale against the the Bengals, Cleveland will make it five different starting quarterbacks.
As head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Wednesday, Jeff Driskel will be the team’s starter when they take the field against the Bengals in Week 18. Stefanski shared the move as part of his desire to protect several players for the regular season finale that essentially means nothing for his team.
At 11-5, the Browns are locked into the No. 5 seed in the AFC and can’t move up or down the standings based on any of this weekend’s results, including their own. It’s presented Stefanski and company with a unique opportunity to protect some players from injury, particularly in a season marred by them.
“We’re going to use this opportunity to rest some guys,” Stefanski began his presser. “We feel like we’ve earned that opportunity with how we took care of business [in the] previous week. As you guys know with the roster limitations, you cannot rest everybody. So our full intent is to go down there, play well and get a win.”
Cleveland signed Driskel off the Cardinals practice squad on Friday, less than 24 hours after the team’s 37-20 win over the Jets on Thursday Night Football.. The 30-year-old spent most of this season in Arizona, after previous stints with the Bengals, Lions, Broncos and Texans. He’s made 11 total starts over the course of his career, eight-year career, most of which came with Cincinnati in 2018.
“Jeff is a guy with the system knowledge from Arizona,” Stefanski said. “Helpful to get him out there and P.J. Walker will be the backup.
“Just felt like this was the right thing to do for the team in this particular instance.”
The decision obviously points to veteran starter Joe Flacco being among the players who won’t play for the Browns. Stefanski continued to reiterate though that while he hopes to give a handful of guys rest, others will have to be ready to play just due to those aforementioned roster limitations.
Asked if other key names, such as star edge rusher Myles Garrett, top cornerback Denzel Ward and No. 1 wide receiver Amari Cooper were also among the list of potential players they’ll rest, Stefanski wasn’t ready to name any names. Reading the tea leaves though, it seems obvious those are some of the other names they’ll prioritize keeping off the field.
