Browns’ Shedeur Sanders has all eyes on him. Doug Williams knows.

LAS VEGAS – With Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders scheduled to make his first start Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, NFL pioneer Doug Williams hopes the rookie passer takes a step forward in his nascent career.

But in a lengthy phone interview with Andscape on Wednesday, Williams – the legendary former signal-caller who was the first Black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl and win the game’s MVP award – said Sanders still has many mountains to climb to prove he belongs at the sport’s highest level.

“This is the week he has a chance to hunker down and make the most of his opportunity,” Williams said. “He’s getting all the [first-team] reps, so just get prepared to go out and play the best football that you can.

“He has to look at it like, ‘We’re going forward. We’re not going backward.’ What has happened in the past has happened – but there’s nothing you can do about that. In this league, you always have to move on.”

After his rough regular-season debut in Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the visiting Baltimore Ravens, Sanders – a son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders – is eager to make better memories during the remainder of the season.

Thrust into duty with 12 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter after Browns rookie starter Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion, Sanders struggled: He went 4 for 16 for 47 yards with an interception, was sacked twice, and finished with a 13.5 passer rating.

On Wednesday, with Gabriel in the NFL’s concussion protocol, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski announced that Sanders will be their No. 1 signal-caller against the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. The 144th pick in the league’s 2025 draft, Sanders has climbed from fourth on the Browns’ depth chart beginning the season – albeit by attrition.

In addition to Gabriel being sidelined by injury, the Browns traded former third-stringer Kenny Pickett to the Raiders in August and Week 1 starter Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals in October. Now, Sanders is at the front of the line for the hapless Browns (2-8), who have lost three straight and six of seven.

Moreover, the Browns’ instability this season at sports’ most important position is emblematic of the franchise’s overall inability to get it right: Sanders will become the 42nd quarterback to start a game for the Browns since the franchise returned to Cleveland in 1999. Talk about a rocket-powered revolving door.

Make no mistake – Sanders is starting for a franchise that has been a quarterback wasteland for decades. And he’s also dealing with an estimated $200,000 in property having been stolen from his home by three suspects on Sunday.

That established, this is the opportunity he has, Williams said, and Sanders must seize it in a bid to advance his career.

“Nobody cares about the situation you’re in, whether you’ve got all the right guys around you, whether [your team] has a lot of injuries, or if you’re a good guy or not – we need touchdowns,” Williams said. “At that position, all that anyone really cares about is whether you’re out there doing your part to help us get touchdowns. It’s about winning. That’s it.”

After the Browns lost to the Ravens, there was an uproar on social media because Stefanski revealed that Sanders had not previously worked with the team’s starters this season. Williams was surprised that Stefanski’s words caused such a stir.

The fact is, in the NFL, backups rarely work with starters during the team portion of practice.

In 1978, Williams became the first Black quarterback drafted in the first round of the NFL draft to play quarterback. He had a nine-year NFL playing career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington. Additionally, Williams was an NFL scout and has held personnel and executive roles with the Buccaneers and the Washington Commanders.

The point is, Williams has the bona fides of an NFL lifer.

Barring extreme circumstances, “I can’t remember a backup quarterback ever getting any reps with those guys [starters]. That just doesn’t happen,” said Williams, currently senior advisor to the general manager for the Commanders. “Everyone upset about … it doesn’t work like that.

“I mean, what you have to do, if you’re in that situation as a backup, is you just get all of the mental reps that you can each day. You gotta sit back there and just watch the guy who’s getting the reps on the field. You look at what he’s doing. You see how he reacts to the defense, how the defense reacts to him, and you learn.”

Sanders would also benefit, Williams said, from watching how other quarterbacks conduct themselves after the game clock strikes zero.

The Browns’ new starter drew criticism for sitting on the Browns’ bench sulking after losing to the Ravens instead of engaging in typical pleasantries. Making matters worse for Sanders, Ravens superstar Lamar Jackson – a two-time NFL Associated Press NFL MVP – tried to persuade Sanders to join the postgame interaction, but Sanders declined.

The optics weren’t good, Williams said.

“The game is over – go shake the guy’s hand,” he said. “You can go sulk back in the locker room. But after the game is over, go on the field, meet him and shake his hand.

“Some people will say, ‘Well, that’s a little thing.’ OK. But when you play quarterback in this league, everything is being watched. There’s just a lot to learn to make it in this league.”

In the ongoing NFL education of Shedeur Sanders, his biggest test yet comes Sunday. Williams – and many others – will be watching closely to grade him.

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