Shedeur Sanders is taking some heat after Dillon Gabriel made his first start for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday — a 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London.
The Browns benched veteran Joe Flacco in favor of Gabriel, who was serviceable in his debut. Gabriel passed for 190 yards and two touchdowns. But Cleveland’s offense still struggled to generate explosive plays through the air.
Bomani Jones, host of The Right Time podcast, didn’t hold back when discussing what Gabriel’s start says about Sanders’ situation in Cleveland.
“Dillon Gabriel looks like he’s playing with his big brother’s friends. He doesn’t seem like he should be out there playing football,” Jones said. “But I’m going to say this, though. If Shedeur Sanders can’t get himself on the field for the team Dillon Gabriel plays for, maybe he should go do a podcast. This young man here is not going to play a whole lot of NFL football.”
@righttimebomani Shedeur is in trouble if he can’t even start over Dillion Gabriel ‼️ #NFL #Browns #ShedeurSanders
Through the first five weeks of the season, Sanders has served as the No. 3, emergency quarterback for the Browns on game days. He can only enter if both Flacco and Gabriel are injured.
Jones: Shedeur Sanders Should Give Browns Silent Treatment
Sanders hasn’t lacked confidence, recently telling ESPN Cleveland that he’s ready to play now — and believes he could outperform some of the quarterback play he’s seen around the NFL.
“I know if you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” Sanders said. “(There’s) obvious a lot of teams would be playing me, but that’s not in God’s plan right now. And some things happen for a reason and I’m a true believer in that. And whatever his plan for me is I believe in it. So I don’t be stressed or feel bad that I’m in the situation I’m in right now. It’s just funny to me and I just enjoy it.”
Jones gave Sanders a reality check on that statement, as well as his viral mime act, where he silently mouthed his responses to a reporter’s questions.
“All that talk about him looking around at the rest of the league and he knows he’s capable of it — I don’t know what you got to do to get there. But as of right now, they don’t think you’re capable of being Dillon Gabriel,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t be talking to nobody either. I wouldn’t be a mime. I’d be walking around there acting like a couple of women I’ve dated, giving them the silent treatment. No saying nothing to nobody. I’d be mad as a (expletive) if you were telling me I couldn’t do that.”
Browns See Room to Grow for Dillon Gabriel
The Browns were looking for a spark by replacing Flacco with Gabriel. The offense was more efficient against the Vikings, but still failed to break the 17-point barrier. Cleveland has not cracked 17 points for 10 straight games, dating back to last season.
The Browns have some significant work to do on offense if they hope to turn their season around. But Browns coach Kevin Stefanski sees some untapped potential with Gabriel under center.
“A lot of positives,” Stefanski said Monday. “Obviously, we can always be better, and certainly, we as an offense, have to be better and score more to help this football team. But for a young player in that environment versus that defense to take care of the ball, make the plays he made, I thought was a lot of positives with plenty to clean up. And that’s what he will do. And that’s the mentality he has, certainly to be a player that continues to get better week in and week out.”
The Browns are not completely out of the mix despite their 1-4 start. They’ll head to Pittsburgh this week for an important AFC North clash.
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