(Photo credit: Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski plans to identify a starting quarterback for the 2025 regular-season opener 'this week,' as Cleveland completes the preseason portion of the schedule and shifts its focus to the Sept. 7 date with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Stefanski did not provide further details on the timing of his decision, with 40-year-old Joe Flacco considered the most likely pick because of his experience and excellence in a brief stint with the team two years ago.

Stefanski said he could make the announcement as soon as Monday. The Browns wrap up their exhibition schedule Saturday versus the Los Angeles Rams.

'We still anticipate all of our players, whether you're a starter or not, to prepare like you're the starter,' Stefanski said. 'Knowing all of our players in that room, that's exactly what they'll do.'

Flacco is taking the majority of the first-team reps this month on the practice field but hasn't played in the preseason.

'We're working towards Week 1,' Stefanski said. 'That's part of what this week is about, getting our football team ready. So, we'll make all those types of determinations in the next couple of days.'

Cleveland drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round of the 2025 draft and selected Shedeur Sanders 50 picks later. The Browns also acquired former first-round pick Kenny Pickett from the Eagles. Pickett has been limited in training camp by a hamstring injury. Sanders, who threw two TD passes in the preseason opener, was not available for Saturday's exhibition win over Philadelphia because of a strained oblique.

Flacco was signed off the couch to be a backup in 2023, when Stefanski said he proved 'elite' arm strength in a workout one week before Thanksgiving when injuries ravaged the QB room. He wound up in the starting lineup when rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson was placed in concussion protocol. Thompson-Robinson was only in the lineup due to an injury to Deshaun Watson, who is expected to miss the 2025 season recovering from multiple Achilles surgeries.

Flacco led the Browns to the playoffs, then was allowed to leave in free agency on a one-year deal with the Colts. He re-signed with the Browns in March.

Flacco previously played for the Baltimore Ravens (2008-18), Denver Broncos (2019) and New York Jets (2020-22).

--Field Level Media