Cleveland Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett will miss at least a few days of training camp this week, according to multiple reports Sunday, after Pickett suffered a hamstring injury late in Saturday’s practice. ESPN was first to report the news.
That practice ended with Pickett throwing two touchdown passes while on the move in the final period of practice, so it remains unclear if he suffered the injury on one of those throws or if it had occurred earlier and Pickett continued to play through it.
The Browns opened full camp on July 23. Sunday was the players’ first day off, and it was the day coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff had long planned to use to evaluate the first portion of camp and divvy up the quarterback reps for the days ahead.
Pickett and 40-year-old Joe Flacco had essentially shared reps since the spring in a four-man quarterback competition that also includes rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Through four days, Pickett had taken the most 11-on-11 reps and generally had started practice first in the individual drill lines.
Cleveland acquired Pickett last March in a trade with the Eagles, who had Pickett as their primary backup on last season’s Super Bowl championship team. The Browns acquired Flacco two weeks before the draft.
With no clear timetable for a return to work for Pickett, it’s difficult to project how his injury immediately affects the Browns’ quarterback rotations. It obviously will mean more reps for Gabriel and Sanders in the coming days, but with an uncertain timetable, it’s hard to say if Flacco will take all the reps with the No. 1 offense. On two of the four completed camp days, the Browns had held Flacco out of 11-on-11 competitive work due to Flacco’s edge in experience and prior work with the Browns late in 2023.
The Browns return to practice Monday afternoon. Stefanski will address reporters about 30 minutes before the team’s first practice in full pads.
(Top photo of Kenny Pickett at practice last week: by Jason Miller / Getty Images)