Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. My jaw dropped yesterday when I saw Steelers tight end Darnell Washington (listed at 265 pounds) reveal how much heactuallyweighs.
In today’s SI:AM: 🟠 Yet another Browns starter 🐴 Bo Nix and NFL QB evaluation ✅ Week 12 picks
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The NFL’s most scrutinized fourth-string quarterback is now a starter.
Seven months after a dramatic slide in the NFL draft that set the hot take industry ablaze, Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders will make his first start of his career on Sunday against the Raiders. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski announced Wednesday that Sanders will start in place of fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, who remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol. (Sanders and Gabriel are the only quarterbacks on the 53-man active roster. Bailey Zappe is on the practice squad.)
Sanders had a dreadful NFL debut when pressed into action against the Ravens last Sunday after Gabriel was injured. He completed just four of 16 passes for 47 yards and threw one interception as Cleveland surrendered what had been a 16–10 lead and went on to lose, 23–16.
“I don’t think I played good," Sanders said after the loss. “I don’t think I played good at all. I think there’s a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and just get comfortable with even throwing routes with Jerry [Jeudy] and throwing routes with all those guys. I think that was my first ball to him all year. But other than that, I just think overall, we just got to go next week and understand, so that we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do.”
In fairness to Sanders, he was thrown into an impossible situation against Baltimore. After working as the fourth-string quarterback throughout training camp and only getting promoted to backup once Joe Flacco was traded to the Bengals last month, his unexpected opportunity last Sunday was the first time Sanders took the field with the Browns’ first-team offense. He was playing behind an offensive line that had not heard his snap cadence and throwing to unfamiliar receivers.
Gabriel had done some occasional work with the starters during in-season practices before he was handed the reins to the offense, because the Browns always intended for Flacco to be a seatwarmer for the third-round rookie. But after Gabriel took over as the starter, Sanders was not given those same practice reps that Gabriel had gotten. That isn’t unusual. NFL teams rarely have their backup quarterback take practice reps away from the starter during the season, when practice time is limited.
With Gabriel injured, though, Sanders is finally getting his first real opportunity this week to work with the starting offense in practice. Stefanski believes the extra work will benefit the young quarterback.
“The starter gets the vast majority, obviously, if not the entire majority,” Stefanski told reporters Monday. “I will say this, we trust our players. Shedeur’s putting in great work on the field, in the meeting room. He will be better with reps that he’s getting, like any player would be better. But we trust him and he’s somebody that’s continued to put in the work and will continue to do so.”
The added practice opportunities won’t magically make Sanders better, but it’s difficult to believe he’ll be as disjointed as he was in his emergency debut last week. Sanders has inspired more debate than any other fifth-round rookie in the history of the NFL, and his lousy performance against the Ravens gave plenty of ammunition to his haters. He’ll be better set up for success this week, though, having had a chance to familiarize himself with his teammates and playing against a 2-8 Raiders team. Can he play well enough to convince the Browns that he deserves to remain under center when Gabriel is healthy enough to return?
… things I saw last night:
5. A bizarre goal by the Flames’ Matt Coronato that deflected off the glass behind the net.
4. A great catch by Cole Weaver of Miami (Ohio) despite being interfered with by a defender.
3. An even better catch in that same game by Buffalo’s Nik McMillan.
2. The controversial offensive foul call on the Mavericks’ Brandon Williams that negated a game-tying basket against the Knicks.
1. Nikola Vučević’s game-winner at the buzzer for the Bulls.