Curtis Murayama: Dillon Gabriel’s ohana had enjoyable waking up ‘too early’ to look at his NFL beginning debut

Waking up at 2:30 within the morning on Sunday for one Mililani household felt “weird, like waking up early for Christmas.” But it doesn’t matter what the time, it was full of pleasure for the Gabriel ohana.

Garrett Gabriel, a former University of Hawaii quarterback who authored two of the college’s greatest victories over Brigham Young in 1989 and 1990, was up early to look at his son, Dillon Gabriel, get his first NFL begin because the Cleveland Browns quarterback.

The sport was performed in London and kicked off about 3:40 a.m. Hawaii time.

“Man, way too early,” Garrett mentioned in a telephone interview. “But it was fun. Everybody was up ready to go. Obviously can’t miss it. … We had about seven of us.”

Garrett mentioned the “pregame stuff was pretty cool.”

Before the kickoff, the NFL Network reported that Garrett and his spouse, Dori, needed to stand up early to look at the sport as a result of he didn’t have a passport (Garrett mentioned his visa expired.).

The report additionally talked about Dillon’s fiancee, Zoe Caswell, was watching again in Cleveland.

“The only thing is we didn’t get the W,” Garrett mentioned.

Dillon Gabriel, a former Mililani star and a third-round draft select of Oregon, helped put the Browns in place to win, main 17-14 late earlier than veteran Carson Wentz rallied the Minnesota Vikings to a 21-17 win.

Dillon accomplished 19 of 33 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. He didn’t throw an interception however was sacked twice.

“I thought he was OK,” Garrett mentioned. “I didn’t suppose he was requested to do a lot. We had been very conservative and rightfully so as a result of Minnesota’s protection is fairly good. However, there have been occasions we had an opportunity to push the lead had we been a bit extra aggressive.

“I knew he was going to keep the ball out of harm’s way. That’s the reason why he was replacing (40-year-old veteran Joe) Flacco, not to turn over the ball. It’s always a fine line. You have to be (aggressive). When I talk to him, we talk about calculated risk. I think he’ll figure it out, the speed (of the game) and what he needs to do. So do I think next week will be better? I believe so. I think he’ll be a better version of himself.”

Nursing a 17-14 lead, the Browns’ offense hit a wall within the fourth quarter, punting 4 occasions and going three-and-out twice.

“We’ve been playing well,” Garrett Gabriel mentioned. “But toward the end, you gotta come up with some big plays, offensively or defensively. We didn’t.”

My preliminary takeaways from the sport had been twofold:

>> Dillon Gabriel appeared like he belonged. He performed good, calm. The NFL stage didn’t seem like it was over his head.

>> The Vikings have famous person receiver Justin Jefferson and a high quality sidekick in Jordan Addison and the Browns have neither.

“He (Dillon Gabriel) looked like he usually does — composed, making the plays that we know he can make,” defensive finish Myles Garrett mentioned on ClevelandBrowns.com. “He put us in position to win. We’ve got to help ourselves out.”

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski delivered his typical coachspeak when requested to evaluate his rookie quarterback.

“Probably premature to grade in those type of things,” he mentioned. “There were some good things, some rookie things to certainly clean up.”

Dillon Gabriel, himself, appeared like a professional in his press convention — not one of the juvenile shenanigans like what fellow Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders displayed when he mimed or mouthed his solutions to reporters.

‘“I think you just gotta convert (on possessions). Obviously at times you gotta go make it happen. It starts with me,” Dillon Gabriel said on ClevelandBrowns.com. “But us coming together collectively to make that happen. You look at a lot of third downs to extend drives, that’s the place we may also help ourselves.”

When requested what he gained in his first begin, he mentioned, “I feel I realized a bit particulars. In any sport you need 4 to 5 performs again … however that’s the sport we reside and play in. Gotta be higher in these 4 to 5 performs. … Four to 5 performs might be the distinction and the distinction is really what we’ll be attacking.

“There’s always something to build on. No moral victories whatsoever,” Gabriel mentioned. “Regardless of the result, week to week, there’s a process. More time you spend around anyone, you gonna get more continuity. Quarterback to receiver, quarterback to running back. That’s us as a whole unit coming together and getting comfortable with our unit.”

Even when baited by a query to second-guess the conservative play when he was requested if he felt “handcuffed, by not going down the field more,” Dillon Gabriel didn’t chunk.

“Not necessarily,” he mentioned. “You need to be aggressive, however you need to be good as properly. And understanding what we’re doing offensively, there are issues that some folks take the bait, after which there are occasions you might be actually efficient by taking what’s there.

“It is a balance as a quarterback. You gotta be smart-aggressive — when it’s your time to take shots, when it’s time to go get 5 (yards) and live another down. That’s the balance I’ll continue to teeter. You always try to push the issue and be aggressive, but at the same time, you don’t go broke by taking a profit.”

———

Reach Curtis Murayama at [email protected].