Report: Browns to start Winston over DTR with Watson sidelined

The Cleveland Browns plan to start Jameis Winston at quarterback over Dorian Thompson-Robinson for Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens, sources told Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz.

Cleveland is turning to its backup QBs to replace Deshaun Watson, who will miss the remainder of the season after sustaining an Achilles injury during Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Thompson-Robinson was the Week 7 backup and entered the game after Watson went down. Winston was a surprise inactive and served as the emergency quarterback. Putting Thompson-Robinson over Winston on the depth chart against the Bengals was strictly part of the Browns' game plan, notes Schultz.

Winston did eventually enter the contest after Thompson-Robinson hurt his finger. However, the injury isn't believed to be major, sources told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Still, Cleveland added QB depth on Tuesday by signing Bailey Zappe from the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad.

Winston - who signed with Cleveland in March - has spent most of this season's first seven weeks as the team's QB2. The 2015 first overall pick hasn't started a game since 2022 when he was a member of the New Orleans Saints.

Winston has 98 NFL appearances under his belt. In 80 starts, he has a 34-46 record.