CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Shedeur Sanders says he changed the energy around the Browns with his performance in Friday night’s 30-10 victory over the Panthers, and Kevin Stefanski promised his hungry fans he’ll feed them ‘a ton of reps again next week’ against the Super Bowl champion Eagles.
“I’m thankful for being able to look in every player’s eyes and tell them ‘this is new, this is a family. We’ve got to change,’” Sanders said after throwing two sensational TD passes to Kaden Davis in the 30-10 victory. “Me coming here, my vow is to definitely make change and change was made. I was very thankful, very excited being out there, being out there with the O-line and everything like that, I was so thankful being out there with them, receivers and everybody did their part and I feel like everybody believed.”
In nine quarters of work before giving way to Tyler Huntley at the end of third quarter, Sanders went 14-of-23 for 138 yards with the two touchdown passes and no interceptions en route to a stellar 106.8 rating. He was sacked twice and rushed four times for 19 yards, while putting three TDs on the board overall in his 45 plays. The highlights were his dimes to Davis in the end zone, one that he lifted over a defender and squeezed in past two other defensive backs, and the other on which he threaded the needle to a sliding Davis with a cornerback draped all over him.
It was Sanders’ trademark accuracy on full display, which is his superpower in this four-way competition. He’s shown it off in camp, but not yet with the first-team offense. He waited patiently for his chance, and couldn’t wait to roll it out on national television.
So what exactly did he change?
“I would say just the energy,” he said. “The energy around the Browns (since I’ve been around). I just feel like overall, it was a different spark. Even though it’s a preseason game, typically — people don’t take these too serious -- but that’s our Super Bowl. That’s each and every player’s Super Bowl. So the change is a family thing. It is a family. You got to be able to go to war with each and every guy and understand we’re not playing for ourselves here, we’re playing for each other. It’s everybody doing their job and that’s how we believe in one another.”
So how exactly will the four-way quarterback competition change after this promising debut, if at all? For the most part, Stefanski wouldn’t say. Sanders, the Browns’ fifth-round pick, headed into the game as the fourth-string quarterback behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel, and got the start because Pickett and Gabriel are both nursing hamstring injuries. Had Gabriel, their third-round pick, been healthy, he would’ve started the game and Sanders would’ve finished it.
As Deion Sanders posted on X during the game, what now?
“We’re really just focused on developing our players,” Stefanski said. “We’re in evaluation mode. I’m pleased with where the guys are, but I’m not diving into a quarterback competition.”
He did allow that Sanders will get to cook again next week against the Eagles in the second preseason game there.
“The situations were invaluable for Shedeur,” Stefanski said. “For all of our offense. We got a third and one where he had a quarterback sneak. I mean, there’s just a lot of football and that’s by design with him getting a ton of reps in this game and he’ll get a ton of reps next week as well. That’s all part of our development of our young players.”
The original tentative plan was for Flacco and Pickett to split the first-team reps in the joint practices in Philly and let the rookies split the game. If Pickett and Gabriel are still ailing, Sanders might start for the second straight week.
“I’m not there yet,” he said. “I gotta see who’s healthy. All those type of things.”
Stefanski wouldn’t even budge on if he’ll give Sanders his first snap with the starters this week. Or even more work with the twos.
“Honestly, I’m pleased with the way Shedeur played,” he said. “I’m pleased with the way the offense operated tonight. All things moving forward. As we continue to practice, we’ll be focused on all of our guys’ development and getting these guys ready to play for the season.”
Surely, Sanders is still in the mix for the Week 1 start, no?
“I’m honestly not focused there,” Stefanski said. “I think the guys need to continue to earn their roles. That’s what these guys are doing.”
Sanders is coming off a three-day stretch of national experts saying the Browns were setting him up to fail, when they’ve really been building on his successes in camp.
“I don’t want anybody to make excuses,” he said. “There’s two ways you could look at it. You could look at it and be thankful and take full advantage of the opportunity. Or you could look at it like, ‘dang, guess what I’ve been asking for? I’m not prepared … I didn’t know I was playing until one of the days that was close and then I just prepared as normal. But it was definitely that switch that kicked in and when you out there on the field. It’s different. Ball is ball (and) ball has never been a problem for me. But in the game y’all know kind of know who I am.”
He said he wasn’t nervous because “I felt like I knew the answers to the test. I know I’m ready for the moment. Did I play up to par? No, I don’t feel like I did, but overall the main goal was to win and that’s honestly what we did.”
As for whether or not he gained ground in the competition, that’s not in his lane.
“Why put energy in something that you can’t control?” he said. “The most you could do is when your number’s called, at least do the bare minimum and win the game. That’s what I feel like we did today and it’s definitely things I’m able to grow off of.”
While Sanders put three touchdowns on the board, including Gage Larvadain’s 4-yard TD on a jet sweep, he knows he has work to do. The Browns’ biggest concern with him heading into camp was his tendency to retreat under pressure, and he fell back into some old habits a few times during the game, including once on third-and-long when he went backwards almost 20 yards before scrambling around and taking a 1-yard sack. He also retreated on a fourth and 1, and threw the ball away to turn over on downs, but was mostly decisive and found the open man.
Aside from the two touchdowns, his signature play was a rollout right and beautifully thrown ball down the right sideline that his go-to guy Luke Floriea snagged with his outstretched left hand. The two have made a developed great chemistry in camp and brought it to the game. That’s what the Browns want to see. Unfortunately for Floriea, he grabbed his left hamstring after the game and was ruled out because of it.
“I thought his scramble, the throw to Luke, where Luke grabbed it with one hand, was pretty special by both those guys,” Stefanski said. “And again, that’s the fun part of this sport. That’s the fun part of coaching. We get to pour everything we got into these young players and you get to go see them perform.”
Working against the Panthers’ starters for only the first two series, Sanders won’t get away with as much against a starting defense gameplanning to exploit his weaknesses, but it was an excellent debut for a player who has yet to take a snap with the Browns starters.
“I don’t feel like I was sharp at all, honestly,” he said during the telecast. “I think I was okay today, but next opportunity I get, I just gotta build on this one.”
He lamented some of his incompletions, even though a few were dropped, and acknowledged they got a little careless towards the end with some false starts and him holding the ball too long for a sack. But the chance to start dropped in his lap, and he made the most of it.
“Overall, I feel like I felt like me out there,” he said. “I’m just thankful to even be able to have the joy of just being on the field overall … Of course towards the end I’ll say we got a little sloppy and that’s going to be a point of emphasis going into this next week. But I was just thankful just to share that moment with everybody.”
With his trademark smile as dazzling as the Legendary diamond-encrusted pendant he wore into the game, he closed on a positive Sanders note.
“Anything and everything is good for me,” he said. “The kids (looking up to me) definitely inspire me …There’s a lot of people incarcerated (that their friends tell me) my friend from jail was watching you play … a lady just told me now when I’m having a bad day, I just think about Shedeur, and I’m saying I’m going to act like Shedeur. So like that’s stuff cool to me that I’m some form of inspiration.”
Sanders inspired Browns fans on Friday, and it’s the feel-good story they needed.
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