NFL insider reveals impact of Shedeur Sanders preseason debut on Browns QB competition

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler revealed Shedeur Sanders played himself into solid positioning as far as the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback battle is concerned. Sanders got the start Friday night against the Carolina Panthers.

In the 30-10 win, Sanders went 14-of-23 passing for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Despite reportedly receiving the least amount of first-team reps in training camp, Sanders made the most of his opportunity.

Fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel is hurt, as is veteran Kenny Pickett, so Sanders had plenty of reps Friday. Joe Flacco, the projected starter, sat out Friday but Sanders could vault himself up the ladder, per Fowler.

“It doesn’t hurt. He put himself in a nice position, especially because everybody else was hurt, Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett that had hamstring issues, this is a prime opportunity for Shedeur Sanders to work his way, potentially into that two spot,” Fowler said on SportsCenter. “Because Joe Flacco, I think the expectation is that he’ll earn the starting job as long as things go the way they have been, he’ll probably start that third preseason game. So they’re sort of treating him like a starter right now. But otherwise, this is a blank canvas. He showed accuracy. He’s been accurate in camp, and I know the Browns are really happy with his ability to avoid sacks. That was the issue at Colorado. 

“You know, lack of urgency in the pocket has been a knock on him, especially talking to some people that were involved in the Panthers-Browns practice this week before the preseason game. But he showed the ability to get rid of the ball and do that. Now, can he do it against some better competition, some more pressure in the backfield? That’s going to be the issue for him. But like those red zone throws were lights out. I was texting with some people around the league, they said that was impressive. He reset his feet, delivered the ball tight, window spots. It was good.”

Ahead of the game, there were reports that Sanders hadn’t received first-team reps at practice and had been forced to throw against equipment staff members at training camp. After the Browns’ 30-10 win over the Carolina Panthers, Sanders addressed these rumors.

“I’m not really concerned about that at all,” Sanders said. “I only can control what I’m able to do and get out there. And this was reps for me. This was a lot of reps, overall, for me. So, I guess this is my practice. And I feel like practice went good today. We won.”