LAS VEGAS — Shedeur Sanders performed his trademark wrist up “Rolex” move three times with teammates after touchdowns, and once again after he walked off the field and towards the tunnel to the roar of Browns fans cheering him on.
Once inside the corridor, he got a big hug from his dad, Deion Sanders, and another one from Browns GM Andrew Berry after the Browns beat the Raiders 24-10 in his starting debut.
During his podium interview, he admitted it’s been a difficult six months since tumbling from the projected first round of the draft to the fifth, being relegated to fourth-team QB and Alpha of the Hungry Dawgs in practice, the young guys trying to make a name for themselves.
But the Hungry Dawgs ate on Sunday largely because of Sanders, and he proved many of his critics wrong, especially after his 13.5 rating in his NFL debut last week vs. the Ravens in relief of a concussed Dillon Gabriel.
“A lot of people want to see me fail and that ain’t going to happen,” Sanders said in his podium interview after the game. “That ain’t going to happen.”
Sanders (11 of 20, 209 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 87.3 rating) made a handful of rookie mistakes in his debut, including the interception on a curl intended for Jerry Jeudy, but he also threw the three longest passes of the season — 52, 39 and 66 yards — and energized the team with it’s most encouraging QB performance of the season. The 66-yarder to Dylan Sampson off a short swing pass was his first NFL TD pass.
“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I felt very relaxed. Very relaxed and half of that comes from preparing, studying and knowing I got God on my side. So throughout all that, I had no worries. I didn’t feel nervous or anything before the game. He took all my worries and everything away.”
Sanders, who said before the game he wanted to show the Browns “I’m who they’re looking for,” felt right at home in the starting role “after one week of practice” as he told CBS after the game.
“I enjoyed it,” he said in podium interview. “I enjoyed it a lot. Coming up here before y’all six, seven months ago, I couldn’t tell you I’ll be here. God’s the only way I’m able to even get through everything. Being able to see my family, that was important and I’m happy that they was here to be able to witness it. But without God, nothing’s possible honestly.
“And I mean that truly and dearly and everybody starts at different places and like I say, just because I didn’t get the summer reps, just because I wasn’t in the best situation for me to be prepared to go out there and execute from a summer standpoint, that’s how life is. Everybody’s not in the best situation, but it’s no excuse. You’ve got to go out there and perform. There’s no choice, there’s no question. Nobody cares if this was one week of prep. Who cares?”
Sanders’ best play of the day was the 52-yard go route to Isaiah Bond at the end of the first quarter that set up Quinshon Judkins’ first of two wildcat TD runs. Sanders, with two defenders about to drill him, including the great Maxx Crosby, calmly heaved the deep ball to Bond, placing it perfectly over his shoulder where only he could get it and cornerback Darnay Holmes had no chance.
It’s that elite accuracy and uncanny touch on the ball that makes Sanders special.
“That was obviously an outstanding play,” Kevin Stefanski said. “They had us in whether it was cover zero, but they were in a max look that we couldn’t block and they had a free runner right there. So to be able to escape and find IB down the field, I mean that’s a high level play.”
Sanders noted that “I visualize everything during the week. The game was already played, so that’s why I have confidence.”
Myles Garrett, who recorded three of the Browns 10 sacks for a total of 18 to break his team record of 16, marveled at the play, the likes of which the Browns haven’t seen much this season. He put his hand on his head, widened his eyes, dropped his jaw and chest-bumped Isaiah McGuire. The explosive play they’ve been waiting for.
“He put it up, and I’m just like, ‘oh God, who is that even going to?’” Garrett said. “I wasn’t even looking down there to see IB. I’m just looking and I’m like, ‘oh God, please.’ And he drops it in a bucket and he reaches it out, and I’m like, please just don’t fumble into the end zone. So he reaches out but he keeps possession, and I’m just like, ‘wow, there’s not many guys in league that can make that throw.’ So that was a hell of a throw. I hope he can continue to grow and develop from making plays like that and we’ll take it from there.”
Sanders rolled out again to avoid pressure in the second quarter, bought himself some time and calmly lifted the ball over a defender to find Jeudy for a 39-yard catch and run to the Vegas 33 — before safety Jeremy Chinn punched it out and the Raiders recovered. But it was another great play by Sanders, who displayed his natural feel for the game on that pass and others.
His willingness to stretch the field and trust his receivers, something Dillon Gabriel seemed at times reluctant to do, was the biggest difference in the offense.
“Obviously when you can make plays down the field, it opens up everything,” said Stefanski, who declined to name him the starter for next week’s visit from the 49ers.
Sanders revealed just how hard it’s been for him to cope with being at the bottom of the barrel.
“Since I went through everything the past six months, it led me to a whole different understanding and it led me in my own experience with God, with having faith when nobody else can help you in your situation but God. So that’s why I’m truly thankful and I’m truly happy and this is the first time I never had stress. I did the work, I did everything I can in my power I was able to do so the rest was left up to Him.
The Browns tried to simplify things for him, letting center Ethan Pocic slide the protections and take one big thing off his plate.
“I feel like they respect the way I go about my business and being a backup and everything, sometimes you have to compromise your personality and change the way how you do things to never step on anybody’s toes,” So the fact that I got an opportunity and I was able to show the organization, show everybody who I really am, then that was truly exciting. So I was off balance for a little bit, the past couple months, my life, but it was different. But I’m thankful to be back where I am.”
Did he have a chip on his shoulder for the Raiders passing on him at No. 6 in favor of running back Ashton Jeanty?
“Nah, I was a fifth-round pick,” he said. “I got skipped by everybody at least five times. It just comes with the game. It is what it is, but I’m just thankful of where I am now. Everybody have their differences. I still got to opportunity to play, so why can I be mad? The money’s different. but thankfully I have a good family, so it is what it is. We’re not playing for that. We’re playing for the love of the game. I’m just thankful to be out here, have an opportunity to be able to go and play. Go out there and play, go out there and start.
“You don’t know how surreal that feeling is, knowing that you have the responsibility of the Browns organization on your shoulders. Having all the fans, everybody in here arguing with each other online and everything. Everybody have their differences about me. It is what it is. But I’m just thankful I’m here before y’all today. Hopefully we cleared a little stuff up. But we have a long way to go, a long way to grow and I know it’s only one way and the only way’s up.”
Wrist up, arrow up, it’s all looking up for Sanders.
Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com's Browns reporters.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.