Shedeur Sanders is set to live his longtime NFL dream of starting in a game as he is announced to be the starting quarterback for the Browns-Raiders game in week 12.
The ex-Colorado star had his NFL debut in week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens, which ended with him taking two sacks and completing 4-of-16 passing for 47 yards with one interception and zero touchdowns.
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Nov 16, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) is sacked by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Trenton Simpson (32) during the fourth quarter at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
While many fans and analysts wanted the Browns to put Shedeur in earlier, others believed while Dillon Gabriel is not great either, he has stabilised himself with the team’s offense a little bit.
Talking about why Shedeur Sanders is not really the better option for the Browns, Colin Cowherd said:
“You watch Shedeur and Shedeur does twothings that Dillon Gabriel doesn’t. He runs backwards. Coaches hate that.
Especially an offensive coach. Yeah, Shedeur, that was what I always say when you’re college problem becomes your NFLproblem, it’s just who you are. Like Shedeur in college ran backwards. Shedeurin the NFL, watching him run backwards. It’s who he is. I’ve said this with Caleb, Caleb, spotty accuracy. College,Bears. Two different coaches in college. two different coaches in the Bros. He’snot that accurate, right? That’s who he is. So, he’s got to be a big play guy and have the right playcaller in a run game.”
“He’sgot a judgment issue. It’s not a size issue. It’s not an arm strength issue. It’s I mean, those aren’t the issues.
The kid has series of series of series of bad judgment, running backwards, legendary, speeding tickets.”
Read more – “These Mfers Got an Excuse for Everything”: NFL Fans Rip Cam Newton for Blaming Kevin Stefanski for Shedeur Sanders’ Disappointing Performance Against Ravens
Cam Newton Calls Out Kevin Stefanski for Being Unfair Towards Shedeur Sanders
Cam Newton was left frustrated with Kevin Stefanski, as he believes the Browns head coach set up Shedeur Sanders for failure. He also blamed the offensive coordinator, Tommy Reese, for Shedeur’s disappointing performance against the Raiders.
While talking about why Shedeur wasn’t given any first-team reps before he got on the field against the Ravens, Newton shared that his sources tell him that Gabriel was given reps with the ones when he was a backup quarterback to Joe Flacco, which wasn’t the case when Shedeur was put at the QB2 on the Browns depth chart.
While Stefanski’s take on this was that they wanted to prioritise Gabriel completely, the mindset didn’t sit well with Newton.
“he sources told me Dillon Gabriel was getting reps with the ones when he was the number two quarterback on the depth chart. But some way, shape, or form, the number two quarterback, we won’t name his name because we’re going to play the Kevin Stefanski game, don’t get any reps? What sense does that make?” Newton said.
Shedeur and team will now face the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, at 4:05 p.m. ET.
Also read: ‘Can’t Get Much Worse Than It Is’: Fans Left Unimpressed As Former Browns Player Advises Deion Sanders’ Name As Cleveland’s Next HC
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