With the Cleveland Browns already locked into the No. 5 seed in the AFC for the NFL Playoffs, the team has decided to rest quarterback Joe Flacco for their Week 18 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Browns have had their fair share of starting quarterbacks this season, from Deshaun Watson, to Dorian Thompson-Robinson, to PJ Walker.
Sunday, Cleveland will turn to its fifth different starting quarterback this season, as former Bengal Jeff Driskel will get the start against his old team, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Browns’ QB Jeff Driskell will start Sunday vs. the Bengals in place of Joe Flacco, with PJ Walker backing him up.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 3, 2024
It’s an incredible story for Flacco in particular, who went from sitting on his couch to sitting on the bench to prepare for a playoff game he’ll be starting in the span of roughly six weeks.
Driskel was drafted in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers who waived him before the start of the season, when he signed with the Bengals. He didn’t see the field for the Bengals in 2016 or 2017 but started the final five games of the 2018 season after Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton went down with an injury. He threw six touchdown passes over the final five games, but the team went 1-4.
Driskel’s next start came in 2019 when he started three games with the Detroit Lions after an injury to Matthew Stafford. He went on to make stops with the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans before signing with Cleveland off of the Arizona practice squad in late December.
