The Cleveland Browns’ preseason opener drew plenty of attention as Shedeur Sanders made his debut. It also became a huge TV ratings win for NFL Network. The Browns’ victory over the Carolina Panthers averaged 2.25 million viewers, the NFL announced. That made it the most-watched preseason game since 2015 when the Green Bay Packers took […]
The Cleveland Browns’ preseason opener drew plenty of attention as Shedeur Sanders made his debut. It also became a huge TV ratings win for NFL Network.
The Browns’ victory over the Carolina Panthers averaged 2.25 million viewers, the NFL announced. That made it the most-watched preseason game since 2015 when the Green Bay Packers took on the New England Patriots.
All told, it was a big Week 1 for NFL Network, which aired eight preseason games. They combined to average 2.1 million viewers on TV and digital – a 44% increase from last year.
Sanders completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns in over two quarters of action. At the time of his departure, the Browns had a 21-7 lead over the Carolina Panthers, and Cleveland eventually came away with the 30-10.
It was quite the debut for the former Colorado star, though he said it didn’t necessarily live up to his expectations. He called it an average night, but expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to start after multiple injuries in the Browns quarterback room.
“I would say C+,” Sanders said postgame when asked to grade his play. “It’s passing because we got the win. That’s first and foremost, and that’s extremely important, but Pops said, ‘Take advantage of the opportunity,’ and I don’t feel like I did. So, I feel like I let him down a little bit.
“But on the team behalf, I feel like I ran the offense pretty well. I feel like I got to my decisions and there’s some things I could have done better — a different process where I could speed my feet up. I’m just, I’m just thankful for opportunity. I’m happy we won, but it’s definitely still time to go to work.”
Sanders will not see action in the second preseason game, though. He is dealing with an oblique strain, which means Dillon Gabriel got the nod against the Philadelphia Eagles. Sanders was still on the sideline next to head coach Kevin Stefanski, though, with an earpiece in as the game officially got underway.
As for Sanders’ status going forward, ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi said the expectation is he will be back at practice next week. In the meantime, treatment and rest will be paramount.
“We’ll start with Shedeur Sanders, who we’re not going to see an encore performance from today, he’s being held out because of an oblique strain that he suffered last Wednesday,” Oyefusi said on SportsCenter. “The Browns said that he’s day to day, but there is some hope that he’ll be able to return to practice next week, in time for that preseason finale. Just getting some treatment and some rest.”
Category: Football