The Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback debate has focused on Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders all offseason. Shedeur’s fellow second-year teammate, Dillon Gabriel, meanwhile, has largely been out of the conversation as he remains third on the depth chart. But so far, he’s putting in the right kind of work and not letting the outside noise get to him.

“Never disrespected,” Gabriel told reporters on Wednesday, August 5th. “I don’t take things personally; it’s a business. I’m focused on what I need to do to get better, and that’s all I’m focused on. I’m present with that.”

That work has already shown up through the first seven days of training camp, where Dillon has gone 48-of-71, throwing 5 touchdowns against 4 picks. While these numbers are not close to the two QBs sharing first-team reps, two of Dillon’s five touchdowns came on Wednesday, without a single interception. That same day, head coach Todd Monken also revealed that he’s made an effort to have Gabriel “run a little sprint-out just to get him out of the pocket.” The coach also offered a big vote of confidence in Gabriel in his presser.

“One thing Dillon does a really good job of is he’s very even-keeled,” Monken said. “First of all, he’s got a great personality; he’s fun to be around. You wouldn’t know it unless you’ve been around him. He seems stoic, but no, he’s actually very funny, has a great personality, and he’s handled this situation with unbelievable class.

“Every player wants to compete, and he hasn’t really had the opportunity in terms of the number of reps. He’s had a chance to compete just with a different number of reps. So, I think he’s done an unbelievable job that way, and for the lack of reps, he does a great job carrying over the meetings to the field. He does a great job with a limited amount of reps, which is a credit to him.”

Gabriel also had to switch his jersey number this offseason from 8 to 6 when the Browns acquired defensive end Jared Verse. But when asked about it, Dillon made it clear he had no attachments to the jersey, noting that “It’s just a number.”

Dillon Gabriel has been building a rapport with the Browns coaches all offseason. For now, the 25-year-old says he’s focused on mastering the limited reps he gets. And the biggest boost for him is perhaps what coach Monken said about the quarterback battle on August 1 – refusing to boil the competition down to two quarterbacks.

“Once we get further along in pads, the full install in, we get to compete against other people, that’s really when I’m going to be able to see it because I haven’t coached any of these four quarterbacks until now, I haven’t been around them,” Monken said. “I don’t have any preconceived notions of who they’ve been or where they’re going. I just take it day to day, we install, and as we get further along, we’ll have a better idea.”

Time will tell us, as well as Todd Monken, where Dillon Gabriel lies on the depth chart when the dust settles on the QB1 quest. For now, he’s here, and he’s putting in the work. For all the quarterback drama surrounding the Browns, Dillon’s comments are a breath of fresh air.