The Cleveland Browns quarterback battle between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders showed no clear separation Saturday in a 34-10 preseason loss to the Chicago Bears. 

Watson played the best of the three quarterbacks who saw action, completing 11-of-15 passes for 126 yards with one sack and a lost fumble. Sanders Dillon 6-of-11 for 79 yards with one interception, while Dillon Gabriel completed 5-of-8 passes for just 23 yards and threw one pick. 

Watson led the Browns’ only 2 scoring drives early before Chicago rattled off 34 straight points.

Cleveland now heads into an important week with joint practices against the Buffalo Bills and a preseason game on Saturday. There’s a solid chance the Browns name a starting quarterback next week ahead of the third and final preseason game, which could serve as a dress rehearsal before the Week 1 opener in September.

Todd Monken addresses the QB timeline for Browns

To start the week, coach Todd Monken had this to say about the quarterback battle and where things stand.

“Would I like to have a decision today? Of course,”Monken said. “Would I like a decision by next Monday? Of course. I’d love to have that decision. We’ll see. We’ve got a lot of football this week, we’ve already had a lot of football. We’ve got four days of practice and a game that all adds into any decision with the roster and who the starters are. Some are further along than others.”

We already know, that’s part of it, and I’m okay. By the time we get to next week, that’d be great, we can start planning that way, have some practices, and then here we go against Jacksonville.”

Monken is saying that in an ideal world, he would like to have things set next week ahead of the final preseason game to start game planning for the Jaguars in the regular-season opener on the road. The reality is that neither quarterback has separated himself from the other, which tells you where the room stands. No one is breaking out, and that isn’t a positive sign for Cleveland.

Watson leads by a slim margin, but history suggests multiple starters will play for Cleveland 

Watson likely holds a slim lead in the competition, but if recent history has shown us anything, the Browns are likely to see multiple quarterbacks start games this season. Watson is trying to resurrect his career in his fifth and final year of a fully guaranteed contract in Cleveland. He’s playing for his next deal, whether it comes with the Browns (which appears less likely) or elsewhere if he can show enough this year that he can still play at an appropriate level in the NFL.

Sanders, meanwhile, is trying to prove he can be a starter in the league by winning the job and becoming the guy who gets the ball to Cleveland’s young core of playmakers at. Cleveland’s  group of skill players look to have a high ceiling with running back Quinshon Judkins, tight end Harold Fannin Jr., and wide receivers KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, and Isaiah Bond.

Jointpractices against Buffalo will provide a much better evaluation environment than preseason game action alone. Getting reps against a Bills defense that should be one of the better units in the AFC will reveal more about where Watson and Sanders stand. Whether Monken gets the clarity he’s looking for by next week, this stretch of practices and the second preseason game could go a long way toward settling the Browns’ quarterback question before September arrives.