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Shedeur Sanders turns heads in preseason debut, tossing 2 TDs<\/p>\n
Shedeur Sanders had the attention of the internet as he tossed a pair of touchdowns in his NFL preseason debut against the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n
Scripps News – KMGH Denver<\/p>\n
Listed as fourth-string on the Browns’ depth chart, Shedeur Sanders got the start vs. the PanthersHe finished 14-for-23 for 138 yards and threw two touchdownsWhat does his performance mean for the Browns’ QB competition?<\/p>\n
CHARLOTTE, NC \u2013 So much for the narrative that Shedeur Sanders<\/a> was set up to fail.<\/p>\n No, there\u2019s another way to look at this after the fifth-round rookie quarterback essentially aced his test<\/a> for the Cleveland Browns<\/a> in their preseason opener on Friday night.<\/p>\n Sanders was hardly perfect while handling a heavy workload in the 30-10 exhibition win<\/a> against the Carolina Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n But boy was he good<\/a>. Sanders, 23, threw two touchdown passes to Kaden Davis that looked as if they were guided by laser. He had a few Harry Houdini moments, escaping at least four would-be sacks. He flowed off-script, like on a 30-yard completion that fellow rookie Luke Floriea hauled in with one hand. And he never committed a turnover.<\/p>\n Yet afterward, Sanders (14-of-23, 138 yards, 106.8 passer rating<\/a>) bemoaned missing on a couple throws that got away.<\/p>\n \u201cDid I play up to par?\u201d he said. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think I did.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, he\u2019s entitled to his opinion, too. So, just imagine what Sanders, listed as fourth-string on the depth chart, might have done if he had worked some practice reps with the starters or the second team. Sanders has yet to have a single rep with the first team during training camp, and has had only a handful with the 2\u2019s. He\u2019s the guy seen during practices working alone on an adjacent field.<\/p>\n With Kenny Pickett and rookie Dillon Gabriel, listed behind Joe Flacco, nursing hamstring injuries, Sanders got his chance to start and shine.<\/p>\n Some suggested he was set up to fail because of his limited practice reps. Sanders, though, has a totally different view.<\/p>\n \u201cI think overall in life, I don\u2019t want anybody to make excuses,\u201d said Sanders, who led college football in completion percentage in his final year playing for his Hall of Fame father, Deion, at Colorado in 2024 \u2013 then dominated the news cycle during the three-day NFL draft as his stock tumbled from a projected first-round pick to a Day 3 selection.<\/p>\n Set up to fail?<\/p>\n \u201cYou ask God for something. It\u2019s there,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you\u2019re going to complain about it? So, it\u2019s two ways you can look at it. You can look at it and be thankful and take full advantage of the opportunity. Or you can look at it like \u2018Dang. This is what I\u2019ve been asking for, but I\u2019m not prepared.\u2019 I\u2019ve been able to sleep at night, knowing I was going to be playing. And then I just prepared as normal. Then that switch kicked in. When you\u2019re out there on the field, it feels different. Ball\u2019s ball. Ball has never been a problem for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Shedeur Sanders debut winners, losers: How Browns QB’s performance impacts team<\/a><\/p>\n Sanders may have just played himself into a serious contender for the Browns\u2019 starting job<\/a>. After all, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has maintained that it\u2019s an \u201copen\u201d competition. And if that\u2019s the case, Sanders, who played 45 snaps on nine series (excluding a kneel-down at the end of the first half), has at least earned the chance to get reps with the 1\u2019s and 2\u2019s.<\/p>\n Stefanski evaded that question when I asked during his postgame news conference and also wouldn\u2019t touch the topic of the competition. The rookie wouldn\u2019t light a match, either.<\/p>\n Sanders: \u201cI just think about when I got out there, doing what I\u2019ve got to do. Everything else is not in my hand, so why worry about it? I just don\u2019t think that deep into everything because it\u2019s nothing you\u2019re going to be able to control. Why put energy into something that you can\u2019t control? The most you can do is hey, man, if you get your opportunity and your number\u2019s called, perform it. At least to the bare minimum to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s fresh videotape out there now, however, showing Sanders making splash plays like he did at Colorado and demonstrating keen instincts during his big audition. It\u2019s a starting point. Never mind that the Browns didn\u2019t play starters and Carolina played first-teamers for only a couple series.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n As LeBron James so eloquently put it<\/a> in a post on X, Sanders\u2019 performance shouldn\u2019t be discounted because he didn\u2019t play with or much against starters.<\/p>\n Ah, social media. Sanders was such a trending topic on Friday night, just as he was during the NFL draft.<\/p>\n
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