Shedeur Sanders finally got into NFL action on Sunday, but it didn’t go his way.
Sanders was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns after he had hopes of being picked in the first round. Throughout the season, Sanders had been the third-string quarterback and was elevated to backup after Joe Flacco was traded.
Despite being the backup, Sanders hadn’t been getting first-team reps, and Browns insider Ken Carman puts the blame on the organization for setting him up to fail.
“I don’t blame Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur as much as I blame the organization,” Carman said on 92.3 The Fan. “I said it about Dillon last week, I keep repeating myself. At some point, you have to go the troubled youth is the troubled youth but you have to look at the parents.
“Dillon’s had trouble, Shedeur’s now had trouble, well, got to look at mom and dad. Andrew Berry, Kevin Stefanski everyone else, looking at you. Why did you make the decisions you have made? Kevin you are the head coach of the football team, you let this happen?”
Carman believes the blame has to fall on Berry and Stefanski for not putting the young quarterbacks in a position to succeed.
Sanders went 4-of-16 for 47 yards and an interception on Sunday in relief of Gabriel.
Sanders Doesn’t Believe He Played Good on Sunday
Following Sanders’ making his NFL debut, the rookie quarterback was disappointed in his performance.
Sanders said he played poorly, but he knows he wasn’t comfortable with the receivers, as this was his first time playing with the Browns’ No. 1 offense.
“I don’t think I played good, I don’t think I played good at all,” Sanders said. “I think there’s a lot of things we need to look at during the week. Just get comfortable with even throwing routes with Jerry (Jeudy) and throwing routes with all those guys.
“I think that was my first ball to him all year. But other than that, I just think overall, we just got to go next week and understand, so that we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do.”
Sanders, meanwhile, called his outing rough. But, despite playing poorly, Sanders is confident he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
“I know I’m made for it. I don’t think there was a doubt in my mind that that final drive, (we were) going to go down there and score,” Sanders added. “Things happened and we didn’t, but I was just excited because I knew what I was going to be able to do out there.”
Browns Coach Gives Sanders Confidence
Despite Sanders having a poor performance on Sunday, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski remains confident in the rookie quarterback.
Sanders struggled with chemistry and getting on the right page, but Stefanski felt like there was something to build on.
“We trust all of our guys,” Stefanski said postgame on Sunday. “We trust our guys to perform. (Sanders is) no different. And playing a backup quarterback role, as we’ve talked about over the years, that’s tough to come in there. But we trust him. I know there’s things that he’s going to want to do better, but that’s why we work.”
If Gabriel isn’t cleared from his concussion, Sanders is expected to start on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
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