Shedeur Sanders’ Rocky NFL Debut Leaves Him On Shaky Ground With Browns

Rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders‘ first NFL snaps came in the middle of a rivalry game and a collapsing lead, and turned into a harsh introduction to the league

Sanders replaced fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel to open the second half of the Cleveland Browns’ 23–16 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, after Gabriel was ruled out with a concussion. Sanders, a fifth-round pick out of Colorado and son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, went 4-of-16 for 47 yards with an interception, which added 16 rushing yards and took two sacks as the Browns were shut out after halftime.

Cleveland led 16–10 at the break, but Baltimore clawed back and took the game on a trick play the Ravens call Hurricane, a fourth-and-inches look that turned into tight end Mark Andrews sprinting 35 yards for the go-ahead score with 2:31 remaining.

Sanders nearly authored a late answer that guided the Browns to the Ravens’ 25-yard line in the final minutes before three straight incompletions, which included a contested throw to Gage Larvadain in the end zone, ended the drive and effectively the game.

Afterward, Sanders was blunt about his performance, saying he didn’t play well and emphasized the lack of timing with receivers such as Jerry Jeudy, something coaches acknowledged by noting he had not taken first-team reps during the week while the staff focused on preparing Gabriel.

The rough debut capped an already rocky start to Sanders’ pro career, which included an unexpected slide to the fifth round in April after he’d once been projected as an early pick.