BEREA, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders got some work in 11-on-11s at organized team activities practice No. 5, as Kevin Stefanski said he would, and almost capped the opportunity with a touchdown pass on a skinny post.
The only problem is, upon further review — namely photo evidence — receiver Kaden Davis’ foot was out of bounds in the end zone and the called touchdown didn’t count.
Still, it was an excellent throw by Sanders, and a good sign that he’s made enough progress to earn some of those coveted 11-on-11 reps in the four-way quarterback competition, even if they weren’t with and against the first-teamers.
Sanders, who’s throws an accurate ball with excellent touch, slipped and fell on his opening play of the 11-on-11 drill, a play-action bootleg pass, but came right back with a nice completion down the left side to undrafted rookie Gage Larvadian. The near-TD to Davis would’ve been a great way to mic-drop the drill, but it was a good start.
Last week, he didn’t get any 11-on-11 snaps in the lone practice open to the media, but Stefanski said he got some in the sessions that were closed. Regardless, the Browns have been pleased with his development and the time he’s putting in.
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Kaden Davis makes a catch in the end zone with his toe on the line during team drills at OTAs Wednesday in Berea. Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com
“Look, he’s worked his tail off,” offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said. “He’s really put in a lot of work as all those guys are, but you could tell on the mental side of the game and learning the system and calling it and having that rhythm to it, he’s put a lot of work and time and effort into that. And then when you do that, the game starts to slow down and you can focus on finding completions. And he’s done a nice job of that as camp’s progressed.”
The Browns’ fifth-round pick out of Colorado, Sanders is still working his way up from fourth in the pecking order, behind Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel. On Wednesday, he was the only one of the three quarterbacks that didn’t get any snaps with the first-team offense, and worked alone on one of the fields for some of the modified 7-on-7s while the other three worked on the opposite field.
But it’s part of the Browns effort to give Sanders extra attention and reps in these OTAs so he’s ready for the high-intensity and fast-paced mandatory minicamp that will take place next week. In those practices, Sanders will have to work against the likes of Pro Bowlers Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward if he gets any work with the first team, and the Browns want him to be able to hold his own. Gabriel too.
“Operationally, you come from the college world where very few things are called into the huddle where you have to command a huddle, operate an offense in the way you’re asked to at this level,” Rees said. “So I think just from an operational standpoint, you continue to see those guys grow and become more comfortable and what we’re after there is there’s going to be a moment where they get to their comfort level and that’s when they’re going to be able to maximize and feel confident out there. So they’re doing a great job with their work habits and continuing to push each other in the right direction.”
He noted that “it’s a lot harder than you think. So I would just say that, especially just calling it.”
On Wednesday, the Browns also ran a fair amount of modified “7-on-7s,” where they fielded half an offensive line vs. half a defensive line, sometimes comprised of offensive linemen on the opposite side of the ball just to get bodies in there.
“We’re very intentional when you see kind of a half line of an offensive line, we’re trying to make sure that as quarterbacks the offensive line that we’re always doing something to gain benefit of it,” Rees said. “We run 7-on-7, you take a three step drop, you throw the ball great, but that’s not real football. So can we give a presence in front of the quarterback so they feel something? Can we work line games so the line’s working during that period? So it’s by design to make sure that we’re continuing to press as much real football as we can.”
As for Gabriel, who got some work with and against the first team, he completed a short pass over the middle to Kaden Davis in 11-on-11 red zone drills vs. the likes of Ward and some other first-teamers, and then threw incomplete to Harold Fannin Jr. in the end zone. He didn’t complete as many passes on the day as he would’ve liked, and his accuracy was off, but Rees wasn’t concerned.
“I think for all the position groups, quarterbacks especially, we want to be as process-driven as possible as opposed to results,” Rees said. “As long as our process is in the right place, our decision-making is in the right place, we’ll continue to coach the fundamentals and get the physical to follow it. But we want to focus on,’ Okay, is he processing at the high level? Is he making the right decisions? Is he making the right reads? And as that happens now you see growth and continue to push him fundamentally to make sure that we’re executing.”
In regards to Gabriel getting first crack at the red zone 11-on-11s, Rees reiterated what Stefanski has been saying, that they’re mixing and matching on different days. Wednesday marked only the second pracggi
“All of them have opportunities up there with the first group and look, we’re evaluating all the positions, so to say, ‘hey, this is a first group, second group, we’re evaluating as we roll,” Rees said. “So it matters. I think there’s a certain confidence level, hey, you look across, you see Jerry Jeudy there. That builds confidence. You look across, you have (center Ethan Pocic) Po calling the shots up front that builds certain confidence. So again, all of that is part of this process. All of that is part of the development for all these quarterbacks.”
Pickett, who went first in the opening set of 11-on-11s, also didn’t complete as many passes as he would’ve like on Wednesday, with a couple of checkdown in the team period and one that went through Fannin’s hands, but is acclimating quickly to the system. Last week, he said he’s learning the terminology and honing his pocket presence, and believes it takes two years to really master a scheme. But Rees has liked what he’s seen so far.
“Yeah, he’s doing a really nice job,” Rees said. “The terminology in a system, those are fluid. Concepts usually are understood. Those are pretty universal at times. So Kenny’s done a really nice job with everything we’ve asked him to do. We’re pushing certain areas with him, continuing to try to improve his game and, again, he’s done a nice job through the first week and a half and we expect him to continue to grow.”
Flacco, who could do these drills blindfolded, stepped up in the first 11-on-11 period, going second behind Pickett, and fired a deep ball on a post to rookie receiver Cade McDonald, arguably the best pass of the day. Another day, another big play by Flacco, who will always get plenty of Brownie points for the explosives.
“You can learn so much by just observing him and just learning from the way he approaches each day, the way he is in meetings, the way he is on the field,” Rees said. “Those guys all gravitate towards him. You get Joe telling a story, though, it might interrupt your meeting a little bit (laughs). So he’s been so much fun to work with, so great for those young guys and he’s out here competing like it’s Year 2 for him. So it’s been a really fun dynamic that way and it makes it really rewarding for all of us.”
Rees noted that the timeline on the QB competition is up in the air, and that they don’t necessarily need to have an order going into camp.
“We’re going to continue to work with all the guys we have,” he said. “We’re going to develop all four of them, and we’re going to push the reps. We’re going to find ways to be creative and make sure they all have opportunities to develop and put their best foot forward. And when the time comes, we’ll continue to push guys forward as they earn it.”
By the same token, he believes it’s way too early to rule anyone out as QB1.
“You can see ‘em all winning the job, I think, right?” he said. “And so in terms of the competition, we’re so early in the process. We’re so early in evaluating it. But yeah, I think we have a good group of guys that will continue to push one another and by the time September rolls around, we’ll be ready to go.”
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