Kevin Stefanski says Kenny Pickett will be back 'very quickly' and remains 'very, very much involved' in QB derby

BEREA — Only three quarterbacks practiced Monday.The competition for the starting job remains a four-man race.Coach Kevin Stefanski didn't provide a timeline for Kenny Pickett to return to practice from a hamstring injury but said he remains "very, very much involved" in the position battle.Training Camp Log, Day 5: More reps, more efficiency for Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur SandersPickett is expected to miss at least the next two days. The players are off Thursday, and the injury will be re-evaluated.Pickett, 27, was hurt Saturday at the end of practice. He had an MRI, but Stefanski wouldn't reveal the results."Felt something, so we'll just treat it," Stefanski said before training camp practice. "For any player, you're disappointed when you can't be out there with any injury, but he'll be fine. He'll rehab, he'll get back out very quickly."He didn't have specifics."With something like this, we'll see how it goes," Stefanski said. "But his mindset, my mindset, we'll just go day to day."He's going to do everything in his power to get back ASAP."Joe Flacco trying to keep turnovers down to win starting QB jobThe injury is a setback for Pickett, but he remains a viable candidate to start Week 1 against the Bengals. He and Joe Flacco, 40, were the clear-cut favorites to emerge as the starter and in a tight battle."I'm confident Kenny's going to attack his rehab," Stefanski said. "The evaluation on these guys is all-encompassing. It goes back through the spring. It goes to what they've put on tape already as football players. So I know he wants to be out there, but he's still very, very much involved."Pickett had been splitting the majority of the first-team repetitions with Flacco. With Pickett sidelined, the rotation will be Flacco and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.Each of the three will get more reps, and Stefanski was asked how the starting reps will be divided."It really depends on the period and what we're trying to get accomplished in there," he said. "But Joe would get the majority of them."Grant Delpit says he hasn't done enough, determined to do more to help Browns winThat was true Monday, with Gabriel getting three snaps with the starters.Gabriel, a third-round pick, had already worked with the starters a little, while Sanders, a fifth-round pick, still hasn't. He's been mostly with the third- and fourth-teamers but got some second-team reps Monday.The path to winning the starting job may have gotten easier for Flacco, but he isn't celebrating Pickett's injury."Listen, I think there's worse timing, but at any point when you've been working so hard, you don't want to see something like that," Flacco said in a brief interview before practice.Quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave said Friday that Pickett had gotten off to a "stellar" start to camp."I thought Kenny had a strong block there," Stefanski said of the first four practices. "Did use his mobility a couple times there and he's a fast player. He can really run so we'll make sure that he heals up nice and fast and then get him back out there. But I thought he had a good four days."Which makes the timing of the injury worse."Yeah, for sure," Flacco said. "Anytime you've kind of worked a full offseason and you're getting an opportunity, it's got to be disappointing."With Pickett missing any time, Flacco has the opportunity to seize the No. 1 spot. He didn't get a full complement of reps early in camp as they were divided among the four."Listen, I've been trying to keep my head down this whole time anyway, so couldn't say," Flacco said when asked how the injury affects his chances.He will welcome increased snaps and time with the starting offense."Of course," he said. The post Kevin Stefanski says Kenny Pickett will be back 'very quickly' and remains 'very, very much involved' in QB derby first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.