Less than 24 hours after Shedeur Sanders‘ impressive NFL debut, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski still wasn’t ready to answer the question most on the minds of Cleveland fans.
Will Sanders start working with the first-team offense leading into next Saturday’s second preseason game at Philadelphia?
“We need to get through the next couple of days from an injury standpoint and see where everybody is,” Stefanski said Saturday. “I’m really focused on all of our quarterbacks’ development and every single one of these reps last night, how important they are. So that’s what I’m focused on more than anything.”
Sanders played nearly three quarters and had 45 snaps in Friday night’s 30-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers. He directed three touchdown drives in 10 series and completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
The stat that pleased everyone the most though is that the Browns didn’t have a turnover.
Sanders is listed as the fourth-string QB and has not seen any snaps with the first string during the first three weeks of practices. He got the start and received extended playing time in the preseason opener because of Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel sidelined with hamstring injuries. Veteran Joe Flacco got most of the work during last Wednesday’s joint workouts.
However, Sanders made a strong case in showing he should get opportunities to see how he fares against starters.
The Browns’ next practice is Monday at their team facility. They travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday before joint workouts with the Eagles on Wednesday and Thursday.
For his part, Sanders continues to stay patient with the process the Browns have set out for his development. It is the same mentality he has had since dropping to the fifth round and the 144th overall selection in April’s draft.
“I just don’t think that deep into everything because there’s nothing you’re going to be able to control,” Sanders said when asked if he is being given a fair chance in the Browns’ four-way quarterback competition. “The most you can do is when you get your opportunity, when your number is called, perform, at least do the bare minimum and win the game. That’s what I feel like we did today and definitely things I’m able to grow off of.”
In addition to seeing how he would fare in the red zone and a variety of third down scenarios, the coaching staff also got to see how Sanders would fare on a couple of series where the Browns started inside their 10-yard line.
For the most part, Stefanski was able to run through a lot of different game situations.
“You don’t want to show much, but also you want to put your players in positions where you can evaluate them,” Stefanski said. “We kind of did it all last night, including a jet sweep to Gage (Larvadain) for the touchdown. We want to win because they’re keeping score but you also want to vary your run types, vary your pass types so you’re learning more about each one of your players.”
According to Next Gen stats, Sanders was pressured on 12 of his 27 drop-backs. He was 5-for-9 for 81 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown to Kaden Davis to put the Browns up 14-7 in the second quarter.
Sanders was sacked twice, but also avoided trouble a couple of times on scrambles where it could have been a 15-to-20-yard loss.
Many consider Sanders to be one of the most accurate quarterbacks in this year’s draft class. He showed that off on a couple of plays Friday — the second touchdown pass to Davis and a 30-yard completion to Luke Floriea where he layered it over four Carolina defenders and Floriea made a one-handed grab near the sideline.
“That next step is getting in the game settings and taking the practice field to the game,” Stefanski said. “I thought that’s what we saw by and large from Shedeur, that’s what we saw by and large from our offense, was really taking those things that we’re honing in on the practice field and then showing them in the games. While there’s game plans that will be more complicated as you get going and certainly as you get to the season, we really want to put our guys in as many situations as possible, and I thought those guys handled it really well.”
In other news, Stefanski said Floriea has a hamstring injury and defensive back LaMareon James is in concussion protocol.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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