BEREA, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders heads into his first NFL start vs. the Raiders and premier edge rusher Maxx Crosby with some uncertainly over tight end David Njoku and his two starting offensive tackles.
Njoku sat out Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury suffered during Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Ravens, and Cam Robinson and Jack Conkin were both limited with knee injuries suffered during that game.
Stefanski said Njoku is day-to-day but working hard. The Browns need Njoku not only in the passing game, but in the blocking game. One of the best blocking tight ends in the league, he’ll be needed to help chip Crosby and others. The Raiders haven’t traditionally blitzed much this season, but will likely dial it up with Sanders making his starting debut.
The Browns will have to hope that Robinson and Conklin and play most or all of the game to help keep Sanders upright. Crosby, in addition to his six sacks, also has six passes defensed this season, including four batted balls. He strip-sacked Dak Prescott in their loss to the Cowboys on Monday night.
Geno Smith knows Shedeur Sanders well
Smith revealed that he’s been talking to Shedeur Sanders since he was in high school.
“Yeah, man. I’m happy for my guy, man, you know?” Smith said. “S2’s a guy who I’ve been talking to for a long time and just happy to see him getting a shot. But unfortunately, it’s against us, but happy to see him get a shot.”
He said he knows that Sanders is used to the spotlight.
“He’s Deion Sanders’s son, so he’s fine with that,” he said. “He’s had to deal with that his entire life. So, when you’re dealing with scrutiny, I mean, if you listen to it, that’s on you if it matters to you. Personally, it doesn’t matter to me, so I really don’t care about it. I’m focused on doing my job and executing and being the best player that I can be every single day. But as far as Shedeur goes, he’s living his life, and he can only speak for that, but my advice as always to him is to go out there and be yourself and play your game.”
Smith on Myles Garrett
Smith, who’s been sacked 27 times behind a porous offensive line, knows what’s up against in a red-hot Myles Garrett.
“Yeah, I mean, he has it all,” Smith said. “He’s obviously a physical specimen. Big dude that can run fast, but he has all the moves. He’s got speed, he’s got power, and he’s very disruptive. You can see it. He’s had a really hot past three weeks, and we got to cool him down.”
Smith knows he’ll have to get the ball out quickly.
“That’s a big part is getting the ball out and hitting my back foot, getting that ball out fast so they don’t have a chance to work their moves,” he said. “And that’s something that we’ll try to build into the game plan, but the main thing is that we execute. We’ve got to block him. There’s no way around it. You got to block the guy, and I’ve got to get the ball out so I can help those guys.”
RB Ashton Jeanty on Garrett
Jeanty, the No. 6 overall pick out of Boise State, is eager to test his skills against Garrett, who leads the NFL with 22 tackles for a loss.
“Yeah, excited,” Jeanty said. “It’s another challenge. They’ve got a great defensive line, so we’re going to get ready, prepared, and ready to attack them.”
Jeanty is behind Browns running back Quinshon Judkins, the No. 36 overall pick, in yards, carries, average and TDs. Judkins is 17th in the NFL with 620 yards, while Jeanty is 19th with 547. Judkins’ 3.9 average is 32nd, while Jeanty’s 3.8 is 37th. Judkins has five rushing touchdowns to Jeanty’s four.
But it could be tough sledding for Judkins in Vegas: the Raiders is allowing only 3.8 yards per rush this season for second-lowest in the NFL.
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