Browns will start Dorian Thompson-Robinson at QB in Week 16 vs. Bengals

The Cleveland Browns will start Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback in the team’s Week 16 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The move comes after quarterback Jameis Winston and the Browns offense struggled in the team’s 21-7 Week 15 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Winston threw three interceptions and was replaced by Thompson-Robinson late in the game.

Winston has started seven games for the Browns this season, posting a 2-5 record in those contests. He’s completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,121 yards, 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this year. Thompson-Robinson has appeared in four games this season and completed 15 of 34 passes for 100 yards and three interceptions.

The Browns informed Thompson-Robinson Tuesday ahead of standard quarterback meetings that they will make him the starter.

He said he wanted to keep conversations with his coaches and teammates private, but said he was excited for the opportunity.

“I’ve always been preparing like I was the starter, just trying to stay ready,” Thompson-Robinson said. “We’re looking to go down there and get a win.

“In this league, you always have to prepare as if you have a lot to learn. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from Jameis and I just need to be ready to give my best for this team.”

Later Tuesday, Thompson-Robinson hosted about 25 kids for dinner and even a few football tosses at the Cleveland Boys and Girls Club for an event sponsored by his DTR Foundation and the Greater Cleveland Foodbank.

This is the 11th time in the team’s post-1999 era that they’ve had to use at least three different starting quarterbacks. Winston was the ninth starter in coach Kevin Stefanski’s five years on the job.

The Browns went 1-2 in DTR’s three starts last year.

Why this move makes sense

It was time to make the move for this game (and the rest of the season), and the 3-11 Browns letting Thompson-Robinson finish last week’s game pretty much confirmed what was going to happen. Winston doesn’t have a contract for next year, so with the future looking bleak for the Browns but wide-open at the game’s most important position, letting Thompson-Robinson get extended game action and full practice preparation for those games makes sense. He’s unlikely to impress, but Thompson-Robinson’s rookie contract runs through 2026, so if he can show some level of competence and improvement, he’ll have a chance to stick on the roster as a backup. There’s a scenario in which he plays well and takes a big leap, but nothing we’ve seen in his two seasons indicates that’s likely to happen.

What this means for DTR

Thompson-Robinson made three starts as a rookie in 2023, and his appearance last week vs. the Chiefs was his second extended action this season. His first start came early in his rookie season when Deshaun Watson was a late injury scratch, and his first action this year came after Watson was injured in the first game that the Browns made Thompson-Robinson their primary backup and demoted Winston to the third emergency quarterback. That switch wasn’t made until the day before the game, so Thompson-Robinson played vs. the Bengals on really no practice reps. In this scenario, he gets to go through the entire practice week knowing he’ll be the starter and ideally would be the starter for the final three games. In 12 career appearances, Thompson-Robinson has one touchdown pass vs. seven interceptions. If that ratio doesn’t drastically improve, then he won’t get many more chances.

First start of season vs. Bengals

Two things are potentially working in Thompson-Robinson’s favor this weekend. The first is that the Bengals’ defense is bad; Cincinnati is 31st in points allowed (27.6 per game) and is giving up 32 points per game over its last five. The Bengals are 29th in opponent yards per game (366) and 27th in pass yards allowed per game (239.2). Fantasy football managers take note: Thompson-Robinson and Browns wide receiver Cedric Tillman were high school teammates at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. Tillman has missed the last three games while in concussion protocol, but Tillman participated in practice this week and could be fully cleared in time to play Sunday. The Browns return to the practice field Wednesday afternoon.

Required reading

(Photo: Frank Jansky / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)