After missing the Browns’ first preseason game due to injury, it was Dillon Gabriel’s turn to take the starting reins on Saturday against the Eagles.

The Browns quarterback room has gotten plenty of attention through training camp this year, as four quarterbacks—veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett and rookies Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders—compete for their respective spots on the depth chart.

Sanders got the start in the first preseason game of the year, and left quite the impression. But as Sanders deals with an injury of his own this week, Gabriel was able to get a whole half’s worth of action on the field.

Gabriel opened the day looking quite impressive, completing eight of his first nine passes and converting on several tough third down plays to put the Browns in position to rush for a touchdown on the opening drive of the game.

It was methodical stuff, taking an impressive eight minutes off the clock before the Eagles offense touched the ball.

But one tough mistake quickly turned Gabriel’s fortunes around for the worse. On the first play of the second quarter, Gabriel tried to fit a ball between two receivers who looked like they were in each other’s space. Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba split between the receivers, picking off the pass and taking it back for a touchdown.

Gabriel was bit by the turnover bug once again a little later, flubbing on a handoff. Just like the first time, the ball ended up in Mukuba’s hands.

But Gabriel would bounce back on Cleveland’s final drive of the half, working the two-minute offense well and completing some impressive passes to set the Browns up for a field goal just before halftime.

Overall, there were some high highs and low lows for Gabriel in his preseason debut. If you only saw the first quarter of the game, you might think that Gabriel had a shot at starting for the Browns sooner rather than later. If you only saw the second quarter, you might think he’s at the bottom of the depth chart. Such is the roller coaster of NFL preseason football.

“Plenty to clean up," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said of Gabriel's play after the game. "There's some things that I thought he did well. I thought our offense as a whole on third down was very good early, which allowed us to stay on the field, because I don't think we were great on first and second down, but plenty to clean up.”

Stefanski diplomatically sidestepped when asked for a more direct comparison between the two rookie quarterbacks in their respective debuts, saying, "I'm pleased with both those guys, where they are in their progression. They have the mentality that they're gonna get better every day, which I appreciate. That's really where our focus is."

Ultimately, both Gabriel and Sanders looked respectable enough in their first NFL action. While Sanders had the better performance of the two, the battle between them and the rest of the quarterback room is taking place in far more places than just the preseason games we see.

After Saturday’s matchup, it feels likely that the Browns depth chart remains mostly unchanged from where it was upon its initial, unofficial release. The gap between Gabriel and Sanders may be tighter than it was before, but we don’t know how far apart the two were to begin with.

Regardless of what the depth chart ultimately looks like Week 1, this is likely going to be a long season for the Browns, and they might have plenty of time to get more looks at what their quarterbacks can do in regular season action later in the year.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Dillon Gabriel’s Performance vs. Eagles Impacts Browns' QB Battle.

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