Inside Kevin Stefanski's decision to commit to Dillon Gabriel immediately following each game

Week 10 of the regular season came and went, and the Cleveland Browns are no closer to finding a solution to their quarterback debacle.

After another miserable outing by third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel -- one that inexplicably led him to a Rookie of the Week nomination -- head coach Kevin Stefanski was quick to appoint him next week’s starter, again.

Suspiciously quick.

It’s not the first time Stefanski has been in such a hurry to state he’s staying the course with Gabriel. This has been his modus operandi since Gabriel was first promoted to the first-team, after Joe Flacco was benched and subsequently sent away on a trade.

Likewise, Stefanski again hastily dismissed any notion of rookie fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders getting a shot at the starting gig anytime soon, simply saying, “I don’t think it’s fair to speculate,” on when Sanders could actually get some minutes on the field.

So, why is Stefanski choosing to make lightning quick decisions regarding the most important position in all of sports: a) right after yet another dreadful performance by Gabriel and, b) before he gets to watch another week of Gabriel and Sanders competing during practice? Why no typical prefabricated response along the lines of “We will evaluate every position, including quarterbacks, and make a decision based on what’s best for the team,” like so many coaches love?

There are several factors here that could be working towards keeping Gabriel in the lineup. The most important could be that Sanders simply hasn’t done enough.

Don’t get us wrong: Gabriel should definitely be benched. Not only is he not progressing, but he’s shown actual signs of regression -- missing on seemingly unmissable throws.

However, it could very well be that the Browns expect Sanders to earn an opportunity for himself, regardless of what Gabriel does.

Sanders sparked some optimism a couple of weeks ago, stating on a livestream that he wasn’t attending Colorado’s homecoming game, choosing instead to remain in Cleveland during the bye to “Get ready. Big ready.”

This led to some speculation that the Browns were inching towards giving him some regular season reps. However, Sanders did attend Colorado’s game, surprising his father, head coach Deion Sanders, and Cleveland once again left their rookie sidelined for their next matchup.

We’re definitely not knocking Sanders for making use of his free time however he wishes, but maybe he just needs to do more than he’s done, whatever that may be, than just wait for Gabriel to flunk out all by himself. And, we’re not even mentioning the whole mime interview, something that might have rubbed some within the organization the wrong way.

Another question we need to ask is: are we wrong to assume that Stefanski is coaching for his job? Many have used this supposition to plead for Sanders, reasonably pointing out that the Browns are going nowhere with Gabriel at the wheel.

What if Stefanski isn’t feeling that pressure? What if Stefanski has received assurance that -- despite the lost season -- he’ll remain in charge of the Browns in 2026. After all, owner Jimmy Haslam still appears to be in Stefanski corner.

“Kevin’s done a really good job with us, and we’ve had some tough breaks,” said Haslam to The Athletic back in late October. “… A big trade we made didn’t work out, and you know, we’re all suffering from that... You find out about leaders when things are bad, not when they’re good...”

If Stefanski -- who also seemingly shot down any Deshaun Watson speculation -- knows he's safe, that could help explain why he hasn’t chosen to go after the proverbial “spark” from the guy on the bench, one that he probably didn’t want to draft in the first place, after he had already selected his “Supercomputer.”

“Can Dillon play better? Yes, he can. Can we play better around him? Yes, we can. Can we coach him better? Yes, we can,” responded Stefanski to reporters on Monday, seemingly pointing out that he still wants time with Gabriel instead of halting the experiment and starting anew with another passer.

If this is true, then Stefanski could just be bidding his time until he gets another shot at a rookie quarterback next year, one with a higher ceiling, while Gabriel -- a former Oregon Duck -- gets to be the lame duck of a lost campaign and Sanders stays as a spectator until he can be dealt.

Because at 2-7, what else is there left to play for?