After the Browns’ 19-17 preseason win over the Los Angeles Ram on Saturday, some fans began to question if the team was attempting sabotage rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders. In the win, Sanders was put in with a backup offensive line and suffered five sacks for a total loss of 41 yards. Browns head coach Kevin […]
After the Browns’ 19-17 preseason win over the Los Angeles Ram on Saturday, some fans began to question if the team was attempting sabotage rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders. In the win, Sanders was put in with a backup offensive line and suffered five sacks for a total loss of 41 yards.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was asked about this narrative after the game and denied it. On Monday, First Take host Stephen A. Smith weighed in on the Browns’ management of Sanders.
“I certainly can understand any any kind of skepticism about him not letting Shedeur Sanders finish that two-minute drill, but to sit up there and look at a two-time Coach of the Year, who’s never had that kind of reputation, and automatically attach the word ‘sabotage’ to him when it came to Shedeur Sanders, that’s problematic,” Smith said.
“That may be one of the very reasons, I’m talking about outside of his talent, that he fell to the 144th overall pick because of moments like this. The second you make a decision about him, if it’s something that the masses out there don’t agree with, no matter how ill-informed and amateur they are in dissecting what’s transpiring — nevertheless, that kind of noise is going to be put out there unfairly and unnecessarily, and that’s the kind of stuff that teams may have wanted to avoid during the draft.”
Sanders suffered an unprecedented slide during the 2025 NFL Draft, eventually being selected with the No. 144 overall pick, despite originally being regarded as a potential top-three pick. Due to his name and his fall in the draft, all eyes have been on Sanders during the NFL preseason.
Sanders impressed during his preseason debut. In a 30-10 win over the Panthers, Sanders completed 14-of-his-23 pass attempts for 138 yards and two touchdowns, without throwing an interception.
He missed the Browns’ following game due to an oblique injury. When he played for the team on Saturday, he wasn’t the starter, but came in as the final QB in the rotation.
In fairness, he’s been listed as the team’s QB4 on the depth chart all offseason, but started in the Browns’ first preseason game because Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel were injured. Evidently, the Browns liked enough of what they saw to keep him around.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Browns intended to keep Sanders on their 53-man roster. It certainly doesn’t appear like a move a team attempting to sabotage a player would do.
For now, Sanders will take the opportunity to learn and compete with the other quarterbacks in the room. QB Joe Flacco will start for the Browns in their Week 1 showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Category: Football