Shedeur Sanders Confides in his Future with the Browns Despite Challenges
The young quarterback Shedeur Sanders expressed his confidence in securing a spot on the Cleveland Browns’ 53-man roster, despite a complicated performance in the recent preseason game. Sanders, who aspires to “be a franchise-changing player,” remains optimistic about his future with the team. In the game against the Los Angeles Rams, Sanders had a difficult start in the second half, completing only 3 of 6 passes for 14 yards. He suffered five sacks and led the Browns to only one first down in their five series under center.Obviously.
Shedeur Sanders
When asked if he believes he will be on the Browns’ final roster, Sanders responded with confidence. “I think, overall as a player, I’ve worked hard,” he added. “I feel like everything I do, I try to do my best, and that’s all I can ask for.”
Sanders, selected in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft, is part of a competitive group of quarterbacks on the Browns, which also includes veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett, as well as Tyler Huntley and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. The deadline for NFL teams to reduce their rosters to 53 players is Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, but General Manager Andrew Berry indicated that keeping up to four quarterbacks “is not that much of a decision.” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski announced that Pickett, who has not played in this preseason due to a hamstring injury, is expected to be available for Week 1. The Browns also released Huntley on Sunday. Sanders had a standout performance earlier this month in the first preseason game and missed the second due to an injury. On Saturday, his game was less effective, and he was seen frustrated on the bench after being replaced in the last quarter by Huntley, who led the play that led to Cleveland’s winning field goal.“In the heat of battle, you want to be the alpha,” Sanders said. “You want to be the dog. You want to be there in that last two-minute play. So, of course, little things, of course, frustrate, but that’s what happens when you want to be a franchise-changing player.” Flacco commented on the situation, explaining that “it’s part of being a rookie. They’ll put you in situations that you might not think are ideal… It’s part of the game: part of what makes an American football player is learning to deal with those situations and learn from them. So, listen, we’ve all been there. It’s part of the game”. Sanders was expected to lead the final series after Los Angeles’ Jordan Waters scored a touchdown with a 2-yard run with 2:08 left. However, Stefanski opted for Huntley. “It wasn’t my decision,” Sanders said. “Of course, that’s every quarterback’s dream and that’s what every quarterback strives for: those moments, so it wasn’t me.” “I was glad Huntley came in and took care of his business. If anyone else was going to do it, it would be him.” Sanders faced four blitzes, and was sacked on three of those plays. Meanwhile, Gabriel only faced one blitz and was not sacked, completing 11 of 17 passes for 129 yards.Sanders explained that one of the reasons he suffered so many sacks was his desire to “ignite the offense” and “make big plays”. “You just want to make a spark,” he said. “You just want something to happen, and it’s good and it’s bad. If one of those [catches] ended differently and we scored, nobody would say anything negative about it.” Although Stefanski was not satisfied with Sanders’ play, including a 24-yard catch early in the fourth quarter, he did not completely blame the rookie. “We didn’t play well offensively in the second half. That’s never one person’s fault,” Stefanski said. “We can get better in a number of areas and we just felt like we wanted to give Snoop [Huntley] the last series.” On Monday, the Browns named Flacco their starting quarterback for Week 1, and Stefanski declined to name a backup at that time. Cleveland’s latest unofficial depth chart lists Pickett as the backup and Gabriel and Sanders as the third and fourth quarterbacks, respectively.
