The Cleveland Browns lost to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, but it was a moment of growth for Shedeur Sanders, who started his first game of the season.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
In Week 9, the Cleveland Browns turned to second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders, as veteran starter Deshaun Watson worked his way through concussion protocol. Facing off against the New Orleans Saints, Sanders fell one play short of leading the team to a win, losing in overtime, 23-22.
Overall, Sanders played a solid game, starting slow before coming on strong in the fourth quarter and overtime. In the end, Cleveland didn’t get the victory, but the young quarterback did do enough to start a discussion about who should be the Browns’ starter going forward.
While the world focuses on that discussion — it's not one, at least for Week 10, as Watson is expected to resume his role when the team practices on Wednesday — Sanders is focused on his growth, and he believes he demonstrated some of the growth he has made since his rookie season in Sunday’s game.
During his postgame press conference, the young quarterback pointed to what he said was his favorite play to highlight his development.
It wasn’t one of his exciting explosive passes or timely third-down scrambles; it was a sack for a loss of 8 yards.
The reason Sanders was so proud of that play is that he understood the circumstances and made the best decision, even though it looked like a less-than-ideal outcome.
In a four-minute offense situation, the quarterback knew the goal was to milk the clock and make the Saints burn their timeouts. Once New Orleans blew up the designed screen pass, Sanders knew it was better to hold onto the ball and take a sack rather than throwing it away and stopping the clock.
"I would say my favorite play of the day was the sack at the two minute; it was four-minute offense. That was my favorite play because I wouldn’t say a year ago today, I wouldn’t have probably understood the situation as completely. ... Those things make me real excited whenever those things happen and you remember the coaching points that your coaches always say."
Shedeur Sanders continues to move in the right direction for the Browns
This may seem like a small thing, but the small things are exactly where the young quarterback needs to improve the most. In Sanders’ eight starts since joining the Browns, it’s clear that he’s a natural playmaker and a tough quarterback who’s going to fight every play.
While that leads to highlight-reel plays like the gutsy throw to Jerry Jeudy or the explosive deep shots to Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion, those plays are a given for his game.
What Cleveland has been working on with Sanders is improving on the margins, and doing all the little things right in between the cool plays. On Sunday, Sanders proved that he’s taking that coaching and making progress.
Yes, he still has room to grow, but that’s to be expected for a second-year QB who’s only making his eighth start.
The promising thing is that Sanders has shown he will grow. Even in his seven starts last season, he made tremendous progress as a rookie.
The problem is that his best path to growth is by playing and working through the ups and downs that can only be presented in games, and he hasn’t been given the opportunity to consistently do that. Still, Sanders is making the most of each opportunity, which is the only thing that he can control.