The Cleveland Browns have one of the most crowded quarterback rooms in the NFL. It’s also one of the most debated, especially as rookie Shedeur Sanders played well in the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. Now, however, he’s battling an injury concern. Sanders is now considered day-to-day and is unlikely to play in Cleveland’s […]
The Cleveland Browns have one of the most crowded quarterback rooms in the NFL. It’s also one of the most debated, especially as rookie Shedeur Sanders played well in the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. Now, however, he’s battling an injury concern.
Sanders is now considered day-to-day and is unlikely to play in Cleveland’s next preseason game with an oblique strain. That’s a pretty significant setback for the rookie quarterback, which ESPN’s Dan Graziano broke down during an injury update on Get Up.
“That’s what we’ve heard,” Dan Graziano said. “Day-to-day. Won’t practice today. Not likely to play this weekend, but obviously, for a guy that spent the entire offseason No. 4 on the quarterback depth chart there, this pushes back his opportunity to keep moving up. They saw some positive signs, obviously, in the game that he started.”
Shedeur Sanders was a fifth round pick and the second quarterback Cleveland drafted this offseason, alongside Dillon Gabriel. The Browns also have Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Tyler Huntley on the roster while Deshaun Watson is recovering from an injury. It’s a crowded room, and the oblique injury is going to cost Sanders opportunities.
“He started because Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett are hurt. But missed practice time at this point for any rookie quarterback,” Graziano said. “Let alone one that’s that far down the depth chart, is going to be damaging to his long term prospects in terms of being able to start.”
In his first preseason game, Sanders completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. However, Flacco, Gabriel, and Pickett didn’t play at all. As of now, Flacco is projected to be the starter, but given his age, there is an expectation that he will be replaced at some point. That’s where a kind of long term tryout will likely go to the backup.
The trouble for Sanders is that with an injury limiting his reps now, he’s going to have less of a chance to move up to the backup spot and earn that opportunity. For a fifth round pick, that’s a major blow.
“He’s a fifth round pick. He’s a developmental quarterback just by virtue of where he was selected. We saw him throw the ball very well the other night. We also saw some things he needs to work on,” Graziano said. “Like against the rush, there’s some stuff he needs to iron out. So, they want to see what they can do with him, how they can bring him along, what he can become, because they do like him… There’s so much noise around the kid. There’s so much conversation around the kid that we have to peel it back sometimes and say the Cleveland coaches are looking at him the way you would look at a fifth round quarterback with some promise.”
The Cleveland Browns have their next preseason game on Saturday, August 16th, against the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s one of two remaining preseason games before the regular season kicks off September 7th against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Category: Football
