CLEVELAND, Ohio — Did Shedeur Sanders’ scintillating performance in the 30-10 victory over the Panthers earn him his first reps with the Browns starting offense this week?
Through the first 11 practices of training camp, including the joint practice Wednesday against the Panthers, Sanders hasn’t take a snap with the likes of Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman or David Njoku.
It’s almost unheard of for a fourth-team quarterback to take such precious reps in camp, but Sanders is involved in the four-way battle for the starting job, and will likely need to show what he can do with the starters if he’s to remain in the mix.
But Kevin Stefanski, fresh of film study of Sanders’ big night, wasn’t prepared to go there yet.
“We need to get through the next couple of days from injury standpoint, and see where everybody is,” Stefanski said. “I’m really focused on all of our quarterbacks’ development and every single one of these reps last night, how important they are. So that’s what I’m focused on more than anything.”
After the game, he wasn’t ready to say if Sanders will start the second preseason game Saturday afternoon in Philly, but he certainly put on a show Friday night with his performance in the victory.
Playing 45 snaps over nine possessions, Sanders put three touchdowns on the board, including two beautifully-thrown TD passes to first-year receiver Kaden Davis. He went 14 of 23 for 138 yards, with the two TDs and no INTs for a 106.8 rating. He also rushed four times for 19 yards, including 10 yards for a first down, and one to convert a third-and- short.
It was everything the Browns could’ve hoped for from Sanders, and more.
“We have a standard for that position and really every position, but certainly the quarterback position,” Stefanski said. “There’s a standard by which we play and how we play and how we operate and how we take care of the football and those type of things. So there are things that Shedeur can clean up, he will clean up, but by and large I thought the operation was really good and that’s important when you have different guys in there.
“There were some guys playing for us that had recently gotten on campus, so getting them up to speed can be a challenge. But I think the guys did a really nice job and I think it goes back to with Shedeur or any player, you’re maximizing all of your time in the building. Of course it’s game reps, of course it’s practice reps, but it’s also those reps after practice, it’s also those meetings and it’s also the walkthroughs and the walkthrough room, etc., etc. All of that adds up to being able to have success in a game setting.”
How Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel are coming along with their hamstrings
Stefanski wasn’t prepared to say yet if Pickett and Gabriel, both still nursing hamstrings, will be able to do more in joint practices vs. the Eagles this week than they did in Carolina. There, they were limited to individual drills and 7-on-7s, and abstained from team periods.
“We’ll see,” Stefanski said. “I’ll know more over the next couple of days.”
In a perfect world, at least one of them will be able to take some snaps with the starters, and it seems like Gabriel’s injury wasn’t as serious as Pickett’s.
Can Pickett stay in the race if he’s limited in Philly?
If Pickett isn’t ready for 11-on-11s in Philly, will he be able to stay in the race? He’s already missed seven full practices, including most in full pads.
Even Pickett acknowledged last week that he’s losing ground in the competition and that the injury has been a setback. But Stefanski made no promises he’ll see team work in Philly against the team with whom he won a Super Bowl last season.
“We’ll do that when appropriate,” he said. “And we’re taking in information every single day with his injury. I will tell you he’s very much involved in the meeting room, in the walkthroughs, so he’s not missing a beat when it comes to what we’re doing. He’ll be out there as soon as he’s ready, as soon as he’s healthy. But he’s doing a nice job of keeping himself ready.”
Stefanski pleased with his other rookies too
Stefanski praised the performances of draft picks Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, Harold Fannin Jr. and Dylan Sampson.
“A lot of these guys were getting some of their first looks and they’ve played a lot for us,” Stefanski said. “They’ve gotten a lot of reps both in our practice, in our live settings, in the practice versus Carolina. And then they go through pregame warmup, get that uniform on for the first time, go perform in our schemes, I thought was really important and then got them out and they were able to watch a good bit of it and learn from those reps as well. But Carson (six tackles) in particular was productive when he was in there. I thought he did a nice job of playing physical, was engaged with a blocker, still made a tackle. So you just see his skillset showing up in that short amount of time.”
Kaden Davis looks like a keeper
Davis, who made the two difficult touchdown catches from Sanders, one in traffic and one while sliding with a defender draped on him, may have made the 53-man roster with that outing. Overall, he went 3-for-3 for 23 yards with the two TDs.
“Kaden’s been very productive for the football team going back through the spring, very dependable, knows what to do fast,” Stefanski said. “I think you see his speed show up in practice and game-like settings. So I was really happy for him to have the success that he did last night.”
Two injuries
Rookie receiver Luke Floriea, the Mentor, Ohio native and Kent State product, suffered a hamstring injury on that spectacular left-handed 30-yard grab from Sanders, and will miss some time. Cornerback LaMereon James is in the concussion protocol.
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