Patriots Star Defender ‘Excited’ To Face Browns Rookie Quarterback
For the second week in a row, the New England Patriots will face a rookie quarterback this week.
The Patriots’ defense feasted on Tennessee Titans rookie Cam Ward last week, sacking him five times and forcing two turnovers from him (one interception and one fumble). They shut the Titans out in the second half and allowed just three points after the first quarter, cruising to a 31-13 rout in Nashville.
New England faces a similar assignment during this week’s home matchup against the Cleveland Browns, who have rookie QB Dillon Gabriel under center. Gabriel will be making his fourth career start for the 2-5 Browns and is coming off his first career win after dominating the Miami Dolphins last week.
He’s yet to turn the ball over in his brief NFL career, but Christian Gonzalez and the Patriots’ defense are looking to change that.
“Dillon over there, he’s making plays, he has no turnovers. We wanna get the ball off of him,” Gonzalez told reporters on Thursday. “They got receivers, they got a lot of good players over there. It’s gonna be a challenge for us, but we’re excited for it.”
Gonzalez has yet to force a turnover this year, but New England’s defense has forced nine so far, ranking ninth in the NFL.
Gabriel has struggled with his accuracy, completing just 59.8 percent of his passes. He seems due for an interception, and the Patriots have five of them.
The 24-year-old has been sacked 10 times in his three starts, so New England’s defense will at least try to get him on the ground and keep Cleveland’s offense behind the sticks.
Even with Gabriel, the Browns have one of the worst offenses in the NFL, ranking 30th in both points and yards per game. That makes this a great matchup for the Patriots’ stellar defense, which ranks fifth in points allowed per game and 11th in yards allowed per game.