Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe took aim at the Cleveland Browns for their handling of Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders made his NFL debut on Sunday as he came in relief for Dillon Gabriel, who was in concussion protocol. However, the rookie quarterback struggled in his first outing, which was also his first time playing with the first-team offense.
Sanders never got the chance to play with the first-team offense until he entered the game, which Sharpe called malpractice.
“Shedeur Sanders getting his first taste of inept action for Kevin Stefanski to say the first time that Shedeur Sanders had taken a snap with the starters, with the ones within his game, is malpractice,” Sharpe said on Nightcap.
Sharpe, who’s considered one of the greatest tight ends ever, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He’s a three-time Super Bowl champion and said quarterbacks have certain plays they like, which Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t know what plays Sanders likes.
“Do you think he (Stefanski) had any idea of the plays that Shedeur likes? No,” Sharpe added. “You build your play sheet around the QB and what he likes, what you know he’s good at. You don’t even know what Shedeur’s good at.”
Sanders went 4-of-16 for 47 yards and an interception in relief.
Sanders Wasn’t Pleased With his Browns Debut
After halftime, Sanders came into the game to massive cheers from Browns fans.
Fans had been calling for Sanders to play, and they finally got their wish. However, the rookie quarterback did struggle, and he admitted his debut was rough.
“I don’t think I played good, I don’t think I played good at all,” Sanders said postgame on Sunday. “I think it’s a lot of things, you know, we need to look at, during the week and go and just get comfortable, even throwing routes, you know, with Jerry (Jeudy) and throwing routes with all those guys.
“So 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 then we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do.”
Sanders, meanwhile, said it was exciting to be back on the field and knows there is things to work on.
“I think you’ve seen it was just rough overall,” Sanders added. “It was a rough day overall. But the thing that I was excited about is just being able to get out there. You know, it’s the first time I got hit, like since my last game at Colorado. So just having that feeling back is good and I feel fulfilled overall when it comes to being out there practicing, going in between the lines, seeing actually what it’s like. And I know I’m made for it.”
Stefanski Expects Sanders to Learn From Outing
Although Sanders had a rough outing, Stefanski believes the rookie can learn from it.
If Gabriel isn’t cleared, Sanders will start again and Stefanski expects the rookie to be better, especially once he gets more first-team reps.
“Well, I think you learn from every single play, that you’re out there and there’s always lessons to be learned and obviously there’s always going to be good and there’s always going to be bad,” Stefanski said. “And that’s just part of playing and getting reps. And then part of learning is taking all those coaching points that come with those reps.”
The Browns will go on the road to play the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
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