CLEVELAND \u2014 Coach Kevin Stefanski defended his handling of Shedeur Sanders\u2019 development after the Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback struggled in Saturday\u2019s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams.<\/p>\n
Stefanski addressed claims that he was deliberately hindering Sanders\u2019 progress, particularly after replacing him with Tyler Huntley, who led the game-winning drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t concern myself with outside types of things, but I\u2019m committed to his development, just like all of our rookies,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to focus on getting our guys better, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll stay committed to, and that\u2019s what\u2019s important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stefanski was criticized for not letting Sanders attempt a potential game-winning drive in the final two minutes, as well as for playing the fifth-round pick in the second half, when both teams played their third- and fourth-string units.<\/p>\n
The Browns went three-and-out on four of five series with Sanders under center. He completed 3 of 6 passes for 14 yards.<\/p>\n
Sanders suffered an oblique injury Aug. 13 during a joint workout with the Eagles. He said it was tender but not a factor.<\/p>\n
Joe Flacco, who will start the Sept. 7 opener against Cincinnati, could empathize with Sanders having a rough game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of being a rookie. You\u2019re going to get thrown into situations that maybe you don\u2019t think are ideal,\u201d Flacco said. \u201cIt\u2019s part of what makes a football player, is learning how to deal with those situations and learn from them.”<\/p>\n
Among the reasons Sanders dropped to the 144th pick were his footwork and repeated errors. One example was when he took a 24-yard sack early in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
It turned out to be a rough weekend for Sanders and his brother in preseason games.<\/p>\n
Along with Shedeur\u2019s struggles, Shilo Sanders was ejected in Tampa Bay\u2019s game against Buffalo and was reportedly waived on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Huntley came in with 2:03 remaining and drove Cleveland 46 yards in six plays, culminating in Andre Szmyt\u2019s 37-yard field goal as time expired in a 19-17 victory over the Rams.<\/p>\n
Huntley, who started five games for Miami last season, was signed Aug. 5 after injuries depleted the Browns\u2019 quarterback depth. The six-year veteran was the only Cleveland QB to play all three preseason games but was among 21 players released Sunday as the Browns trimmed their roster to 53.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just felt that if we could get him some action in that last game, we were going to do that. He\u2019s done a really nice job for us over the last few weeks and just put him out there,\u201d Stefanski said of Huntley.<\/p>\n
Cameras caught Sanders frustrated on the Browns\u2019 sideline after being told he was done for the day. He asked to return, but Stefanski shook his head, adding to the controversy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all of our guys are extremely competitive and want to be out there for every play. So, I never want a player to be less competitive,\u201d Stefanski said.<\/p>\n
Sanders completed 17 of 29 for 152 yards and two touchdowns in two games. He will now work as the scout team quarterback, practicing against the Browns\u2019 first-team defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy I get to go against the first-team defense every day in practice now. I get to sharpen my craft and do everything I can to be the best player,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
General manager Andrew Berry told NFL Network after Saturday’s game that the Browns are comfortable keeping four quarterbacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s not much of a decision for us. \u2026 We have a room that we like all the guys in there,” he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t really see that as a problem. We more see it as an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flacco is the starter and Sanders is the fourth string. The backup spot between Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel remains undecided.<\/p>\n
Stefanski said on Sunday that Pickett is likely to be available for the opener after dealing with a hamstring issue for the past four weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND \u2014 Coach Kevin Stefanski defended his handling of Shedeur Sanders\u2019 development after the Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":["post-95264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}