Joe Flacco Had Veteran Response to Browns' Decision to Bench Him: 'It Is What It Is'

Rookie Dillon Gabriel will take over as the starting QB.

Flacco is in his 18th season in the league. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

At least for now, Joe Flacco is the backup quarterback in Cleveland. And the Browns, currently 1-3 on the season, will start rookie Dillon Gabriel in the veteran's place.

Speaking to reporters after news of the switch was announced on Wednesday, Flacco had an unsurprisingly measured and mature response to his demotion—the kind of perspective that comes with 18 seasons in the league.

"I think the tougher thing is just going through what we've gone through the last four weeks, which is not being able to produce the way we wanted to," Flacco said, per a video from ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi. "And listen, when you're in the moment and you're having conversations with people, it is what it is. You look people in the eye and tell them how it is and that's what it is."

Presumably asked if he could tell the change was on the horizon, he later continued:

"I don't think I forsaw it. Listen, I think I said it on Sunday, any time you're in this league, everybody's always getting evaluated. The job of the quarterback is to help the team win football games. I don't know if I [saw] it coming. But listen, me and Kevin [Stefanski] can have good conversations. It wasn't like it was anything super long or drawn out like that. But got to the point and had a good conversation with him about it and it is what it is."

You can watch those answers below:

Browns QB Joe Flacco on his reaction to getting benched pic.twitter.com/DTiHCysv3X

— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) October 1, 2025

Though that news was surely difficult to hear, it's good to see that Flacco is seemingly calm about the whole thing and keeping his head up. It's reminiscent of the attitude in New York, where veteran Russell Wilson was recently benched for rookie Jaxson Dart.

You can't control what happens to you, but you can control how you react. And these guys have that part on lock.

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