Rookie Shedeur Sanders will be the starting quarterback in Sunday’s home game against the San Francisco 49ers, according to Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. Sanders, selected in the fifth round, will maintain his starting position even though Dillon Gabriel, also a rookie and chosen in the third round, has passed the concussion protocol, according to Stefanski. With Gabriel out of the game, Sanders completed 11 of 20 passes for 209 yards, with a touchdown and an interception in the Browns’ 24-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, in his first NFL start.
When asked if Sanders’ starting role would be a week-to-week decision, Stefanski replied: “I’m just going to focus on this week. I’m not going to go beyond this week.” Sanders, who became the 42nd quarterback to start for the Browns since 1999, also became the first Cleveland quarterback to win his first NFL start since Eric Zeier in 1995. The victory ended a streak of 17 Browns losses in games with a quarterback making his first career start. That was the longest streak of any franchise since 1950, when quarterback starts were first recorded.The number one job of a quarterback is to win. So, I’m excited to get that first win. And the next thing is improvement, and that’s what young players do. Certainly, young quarterbacks do. You make yourself a better game, and that’s just by working on it. So, that will be our focus.
Kevin Stefanski, coach of the Cleveland Browns
Stefanski added: “The big plays on the field. Obviously, the [52-yard completion] to rookie wide receiver Isaiah Bond was of a very, very high degree of difficulty on that play. Are there things he can do better? Absolutely. We’ve already talked about that with him. He has the mindset that he will make the adjustments to the speed of the game, he will make the adjustments to what people give us to make those improvements.” Gabriel started in the previous five games before suffering a concussion against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11, which sidelined him for the second half of the 23-16 loss and Sunday’s game against the Raiders. In eight games (six starts), Gabriel has completed 59.2% of his passes (109 of 184) for 937 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. The Browns had a 1-4 record in the games Gabriel started before his injury in Week 11.In any quarterback’s first start, you always make sure the operation is how you want it, and overall it was good. There are things we can improve, and obviously, that affects all of us. That includes the coaches, the players, and the quarterback, where we can improve some of our operations. But I think the communication was very good throughout the day with him.
Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns coach
