CLEVELAND, Ohio — Kevin Stefanski said after Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Ravens that Shedeur Sanders will start vs. the Raiders in Las Vegas Sunday, but only if Dillon Gabriel doesn’t clear the concussion protocol.
If Gabriel clears, he’ll be back in the saddle.
Gabriel sat out the second half of the game after being diagnosed with a concussion at halftime, when the Browns led 16-10. Gabriel, who was booed by fans for a couple of off-target throws and had to endure “we want Sanders” chants, took hits from Kyle Hamilton and safety Alohi Gilman after a 1 yard designed run at the end of the first half. The ball came out late, but the play had been blown dead.
“He got checked at halftime,” Stefanski said. “I don’t know all the details exactly.”
Gabriel, who’s led the Browns to a 1-5 mark, went 7-of-10 for 68 yards with 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions en route to a 88.8 rating. But the Browns went 0-for-6 on third down with him in the first half and settled for three field goals instead of putting TDs on the board, including once when Grant Delpit recovered a muffed punt to start the Browns at the Ravens’ 6.
Stefanski didn’t hesitate to state that Gabriel will start Sunday if he’s cleared.
“Yes, but a lot goes into that (protocol),” Stefanski said. “So, we’ll see.”
Chances are, Sanders will start against the Raiders, because he’ll probably get all the starting reps in practice while Gabriel works through the protocol.
Stefanski stressed that Sanders will get the nod if Gabriel can’t go.
Is he comfortable without adding a quarterback? The Browns have fourth-year pro Bailey Zappe on the practice squad, and Deshaun Watson on reserve/Physically Unable to Perform but eligible to have his practice window open at any time.
“We’ll work through that this week,” Stefanski said about whether or not they’ll add another QB.
Sanders stepped in on the Browns opening drive of the second half, and completed his first two passes. But he finished 4-of-16 for 47 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception en route to a 13.5 rating. He was sacked twice, and fumbled once, with Wyatt Teller recovering. They marked his first snaps with the first team offense.
He had a chance to pull it out in the end, but three straight passes from the Ravens’ 25 were incomplete, an overthrow and a breakup in the end zone, and sideline breakup by Roquan Smith on a pass to David Njoku. As for whether or not Gabriel would need to log some practice time to play considering he’s a rookie, Stefanski said, “yeah, I understand the question. I need to get to Monday.”
Sanders, who addressed the team after the game in the locker room, wasn’t happy with his performance.
“I don’t think I played good,” he said. “I don’t think I played good at all. I think it’s a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and just get comfortable, even throwing routes with Jerry and throwing routes with all those guys. So I think that was my first ball to him all year. No, but other than that, I just think overall we just got to go next weekend and understand so then we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do.”
He’ll likely have a chance to try to atone for this loss next week in Vegas.
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