BEREA, Ohio — 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, the former Browns offensive coordinator, acknowledged Wednesday “it’s weird” to be facing Shedeur Sanders, the son of Deion Sanders, his hero growing up.
“He was probably my number one player just in terms of being a true fan,” Shanahan said in his press conference. “I always talk about how I got his jersey in ‘94 and wore it for about six months straight until someone jacked it from me. I’m still looking for that guy. But no, he was such a unique player. He was just different than everyone, his talent and everything.
“Now to watch him be a coach and to watch him raise, I think he’s got three boys, but to watch the two boys in sports have been really cool to watch. I know my wife and my daughter, they’re huge Colorado fans too. So, I get hear about Buffaloes all the time.”
Shanahan was surprised that Sanders tumbled to the fifth round of the draft, where the Browns traded up to No. 144 to select him.
“I didn’t put a lot of time into him personally. I knew our coaching staff thought he was a good player,” he said. “The tapes that they showed me, I thought he was a good player also. Yeah, it did surprise me just going a little bit later when he did just hear what everyone was estimated and stuff, but I’ve been in enough drafts to know that not much should surprise you.”
**DC Robert Saleh impressed with Sanders too**
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49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who interviewed for the Browns job that went to Kevin Stefanski in 2020, has also been impressed with Sanders on film. He’s coming off his first pro start, a 24-10 victory over the Raiders in which he went 11 of 20 for 209 yards, with one touchdown and one interception for an 87.5 rating. Key play was the 52-yard bomb to Isaiah Bond vs. an all-out blitz.
“He’s a good, young quarterback,” Saleh said. “He’s mobile, he’s got a big arm, tremendous confidence. He made a couple of really, really good throws in the game against Vegas, extending plays, getting out of the pocket, delivering the ball where it needed to be delivered. Obviously, he showed good command of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. You anticipate someone like him who’s got that confidence, who has that skill set, he’s just going to get better and better every week.”
Sanders made the Browns’ biggest plays of the season — passes of 52, 39 and 66 yards, with the latter a catch-and-run for a TD by Dylan Sampson.
“We only have a game-and-a-half to go off of, but they’re going to run the ball,” Saleh said. “No one’s really giving the young man attention and that’s the back. He’s freaking good. I don’t want to mispronounce his name, number 10 (Quinshon Judkins). He’s really good. Jerry (Jeudy) is really good. They’ve gotten Malachi Corley involved. Their rookie tight end’s doing a really nice job. So, they’re a really good offense. They’ve got a style to them.”
Saleh was particularly impressed with Sanders on the scrambles drills, including the 52-yarder to Isaiah Bond.
“Shedeur, he came in over the last week-and-a-half, like his off-schedule stuff is going to be a problem, could already tell that,” Saleh said. “As he gets comfortable and what they’re asking him to do, he’s only going to get better because you could tell how important it is to him and how much work he’s going to put into it. A guy who’s as good and as gifted as he is, both physically and mentally and with the confidence he has, you just know he’s going to get better.
“So, they’ll evolve as an offense. I wish I could tell you exactly what it’s going to be. We have an idea of what it’s going to be on Sunday, but I’m sure they’re going to keep adding little wrinkles to help him grow as a football player and we’re just going to have to be great in those moments and play good, sound, fundamental football.”
Saleh acknowledged that the anticipated wet field on Sunday could impact pass rushers such as Myles Garrett and Bryce Huff, who leads the 49ers with four sacks. Premier edge rusher Nick Bosa it out for the season, and they’re last in the NFL with only 13 sacks.
“It could because if the footing’s not firm and it could be a little softer, grass giving way because it might be a little bit wetter,” Saleh said. “It could affect their get off. I don’t know if anything in the world can affect Myles, maybe if he wants to take a day off \[laughter\].”
**Shanahan describes Garrett as generational**
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Shanahan knows that job No. 1 on offense will be to slow down Garrett, who set the NFL record with 14 sacks over the past five games, breaking the previous record of 12.5 set by Michael Strahan in 2001. He also won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his three-sack effort in the victory over the Raiders, which gave him a total of a league-high 18 for the season and broke his own record of 16.0 set in 2021 and 2022.
“Even coming out of college, he’s one of the most talented guys that I think anyone’s ever looked at just from height, weight, and speed,” Shanahan said. “Also, how long his arms are when you measure, just get-off, his helmet crosses the line of scrimmage faster from an analytics standpoint than anyone in the NFL.
“So that means that get-off’s amazing. When you put that with amazing ability, that to me comes around generationally. And then you got a guy who’s played in a similar system for a while, who has stayed healthy, who’s doing it over and over again and trying to be great. When you have all that, how can you not be what he is? So, it’s been extremely impressive.”
He acknowledged that Garrett, 29, keeps getting better.
“He’s that talented, and he works at it that much,” he said. “He plays hard; he’s always rushing the quarterback yet being a real problem in the run game too. So, he’s like a number of those top guys. When you just look at his true ability too, he seems to separate himself from those top guys also.”
**Brock Purdy and Trent Williams praises Garrett**
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Purdy has only been sacked three times in his four games this season, but knows he’ll have to release the ball quickly vs. Garrett.
“Obviously I think he’s the best in the league at what he does and you have to have a game plan ready for him and more than anything understand I can’t be holding onto the ball too long,” he said. “I think any quarterback could say that about him. We all have his respect, so it’s going to be a good challenge for all of us and I’m excited for our game plan to go in and compete. But across the board, their defense in general is really good. So, it’s obviously 95, but the rest of the guys that they’ve got too, they’re really good squad.”
Fortunately for Purdy, he’s blocked by the No. 6 offensive line in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. It’s led by future Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams, a 15th year pro.
“I feel like we’ve come to a point in the season where everyone’s playing together, everything’s clicking, but those guys are dogs and they’re going to continue to get better even though we’re late in the year,” Purdy said. “So, I love their mindset in everything that they do, the run game, pass game. So, we’ve got the right guys in the room there.”
Williams was asked if he’s lost sleep over Garrett this week.
“No not yet, but I’m sure I will,” he said. “I lied, yeah I have……He’s one of the best to ever play and he has no weaknesses.”
**Browns injury report**
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Four Browns players sat out Wednesday: tight end Brenden Bates (ankle), defensive tackle Adin Huntington (quad), defensive end Alex Wright (quad) and cornerback Denzel Ward (migraine).
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