Cleveland Browns Name Jameis Winston As QB1, Sign Bailey Zappe

A bad season for the Cleveland Browns worsened Sunday as the injury bug bit their top two quarterbacks.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski stated that QB Deshaun Watson would miss the rest of the regular season with a torn Achilles, while back-up Dorion Thompson-Robsinson will be monitored throughout the week with a dislocated finger. This means that former #1 draft pick and 2013 national champion at Florida State Jameis Winston is slated to be the team’s starting QB when they take on the Baltimore Ravens at home in week eight.

For most of the season, Winston was the Browns’ #2 quarterback on the depth chart, but last Sunday, Stefanski elevated DTR to that spot, demoting Winston to #3. That did not change his attitude, though; he is excited about the challenge this weekend.

“We all want to attack the ball downfield vertically, that’s fun football. And that’s what we’re trying to incorporate as an offense and get back to playing Cleveland Browns fun football.”

Meanwhile, due to the status of DTR being up in the air, the Browns signed Bailey Zappe off the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad, and he is expected to be the backup to Winston against the Browns. The Patriots cut Zappe at the end of their training camp in August, after he spent the first two seasons of his career in Massachusetts after being drafted out of Western Kentucky in the fifth round. He landed on the Chiefs practice squad but did not receive any playing time and normally became their 3rd string emergency QB. Stefanski was brief about Zappe during his remarks to the press.

“Yeah, played against us and won a football game. He’s smart. Was in New England this offseason, so some similarities there.”

Hard Rock Bet says the 1-6 Browns are 8.5-point underdogs.