Browns to start Winston; Dorsey to call plays

The Cleveland Browns plan to start Jameis Winston at quarterback over Dorian Thompson-Robinson for Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens, head coach Kevin Stefanski announced Wednesday.

Stefanski will also be relinquishing play-calling duties, with offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey slated to take over, the head coach told reporters, including Andrew Siciliano.

Cleveland is turning to Winston to replace Deshaun Watson, who'll 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.

Winston eventually entered 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.

Cleveland was struggling on offense, averaging just 15.6 points per game, ranking 29th in the NFL.

Dorsey was hired by the Browns this offseason. He spent the 2023 campaign with the Buffalo Bills as their offensive coordinator, though he was fired midseason after a 5-5 start.

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.