Legendary Steelers quarterback calls Browns a ‘second bye’ as Dillon Gabriel faces unprecedented challenge

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Ben Roethlisberger owned the Cleveland Browns during his 18-year career, all spent with the Pittsburgh Steelers.Roethlisberger went 26-3-1 in 29 games against the Browns—utter domination. So when the two-time Super Bowl champion and six-time Pro Bowler takes a shot across the bow at a rival he dominated, he’s earned the equity to say what he wants.The Steelers are currently 3-1 and just enjoyed a huge victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland led by Aaron Rodgers. They now have a Week 5 bye week, before welcoming the Browns in Week 6.But if you ask Big Ben, the Steelers won’t actually be in action until Week 7. Roethlisberger joked on his Footbahlin podcast that the Steelers’ game against the Browns was basically a second bye week.“I said it’s our second bye in a row. I don’t foresee a big issue with the Browns,” Roethlisberger said.Again, Big Ben can say whatever he wants about Cleveland—he beat them 26 times in 30 games.Meanwhile, for Cleveland, head coach Kevin Stefanski has opted to bench Joe Flacco and turn to rookie Dillon Gabriel. It will be Gabriel’s first career start and it won’t come easy.He’ll be up against the Minnesota Vikings and Brian Flores’ aggressive defense. Oh, and by the way—the game’s in London, England.According to CBS Sports research, Gabriel will be the first quarterback in NFL history to make his first career start outside the United States.Stefanski isn’t worried about how his 24-year-old rookie will handle his first start. He has the utmost confidence in him.“Excited for Dillon,” Stefanski said to the media. “He’s done everything really well since he’s been on campus here. We’re just going to have to support the young man — coaches, players, offense, defense, special teams.Gabriel will make his first career start on Sunday against the VikingsGETTYRoethlisberger owned Cleveland over the course of his careerGetty“I think the big thing for me is we need to all be better. We need to coach better, block better, catch better, run better — all of the above. We need to be better. And I know the quarterback position gets quite a bit of scrutiny, I understand that. But this is about our entire team.”Gabriel was taken in the third round in this year’s draft and has gotten some first-team reps in practice before. Stefanski emphasized that it’s on the coaching staff to build a game plan that plays to Gabriel’s strengths.“Obviously, from the second he’s been here, he’s been working very hard,” Stefanski continued. “Very intelligent young man. He’s done a nice job throughout practice.“He’s been — this whole season, he’s been learning how to get yourself ready and understand the rhythm of an NFL week and what that looks like as a backup. And now, feel like he’s ready to go in as a starter.”Gabriel will now get his chance, as Flacco moves into the backup role, with Shedeur Sanders remaining QB3 and the designated emergency quarterback.Cleveland is 1-3 and searching for a spark wherever they can find one. Stefanski is hoping Gabriel can provide just that. It all starts in London against Minnesota and continues the following week in Pittsburgh, where Gabriel will look to make Big Ben eat his words.Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for news, exclusive interviews and more.