Two starts in, Shedeur Sanders understands the fragility of NFL life

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns‘ 26-8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday ruined the home debut of rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The good news for many Browns fans, however, is that Sanders will get another start next Sunday, his third of the regular season when the 3-9 Browns meet the 1-11 Tennessee Titans.

This is good news for Sanders and also for the Browns’ organization. Among a certain segment of the Browns’ fan base there has been a sense that Sanders has not been given a fair opportunity to show what he can do in a starting role. The feeling is that he is being judged play by play, series by series, rather than given a stretch of games to show what he could do. Fellow rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel was named starter in October and went 1-6 in seven games.

Opportunity could be on the way. After Sunday’s game, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski did not hesitate — nor did he elaborate — when asked if Sanders would start next Sunday. “Yes,” he said, and let it go at that.

Asked if he was evaluating Sanders on a week-to-week basis or if he was prepared to say the Browns had their guy, Stefanski said, “I’m not going to get into all that other than to say we all just have to play better.”

Sanders, on the other hand, was demonstrably excited and his response led me to believe that the months of not playing — of initially being fourth on the depth chart, then third, then being backup to Gabriel — have all had an impact. They did not break Sanders’ spirit and may not have humbled him, but his bravado has been laced with a sense of gratitude that has not always been so apparent.

Asked how he felt about Stefanski naming him the starter for this week’s game, Sanders said, “Yeah, of course I’m thankful. Like in the midst of everything that’s going on — win, loss, anything — I remember when I wasn’t playing, so I never forget that feeling. So, I try my best to not let that happen again for me to be in that position.”

Sanders’ sense of gratitude began to kick in when he got his first start in a preseason game in August. As the fourth quarterback on the depth chart, Sanders was playing because the other three quarterbacks were injured. Sanders began to realize that playing time was not an entitlement.

As he told reporters after that debut: “I’m just thankful that I was able to see the [light of day] and get out there and be able to play. They didn’t have to let me play. So, anything and everything is good for me.”

Last week in Las Vegas, Sanders made his successful NFL regular-season debut in a 24-10 victory over the Raiders. He was good, not great, but kept the Browns from losing. The backdrop was perfect: playing indoors against a weak opponent with his famous father, Deion Sanders, in attendance. Sanders didn’t light up the scoreboard, but he created enough sparks to convince the Browns’ brain trust that they wanted to see more, not less of their young quarterback.

He finished with a respectable line: 11 of 20 completions for 209 yards and one interception. He threw the three longest completions of the Browns’ season: a 66-yard touchdown on a screen pass and run, a 52-yard completion off a scramble, and a 39-yard completion.

Many of us gushed after that performance even as we knew there was great danger of a fall at home against San Francisco on Sunday, when Sanders would make his home debut. My concern was that after building Sanders up after his performance against Las Vegas, what would happen if he had a disastrous performance against a much better San Franciso team?

He did not.

Sanders may not have led Cleveland to victory on Sunday, but he was not the reason the Browns lost.

He turned in a reasonable performance: 16 of 25 passing — most of the completions short to medium throws. He had a 34-yard touchdown pass to tight end Harold Fannin Jr., and no interceptions. Asked how he judged his play on Sunday, Sanders said: “By wins and losses. Obviously, we lost, so I ain’t play well.”

Sanders’ problem on Sunday was that he was sabotaged by questionable playcalling and poor execution — the earmarks of a bad football team.

With Cleveland trailing 10-8 in the third quarter, the Browns decided to go for a first down on a fourth-and-1 on their 32-yard line. Fannin fumbled a direct snap, San Francisco recovered, and nine plays later the 49ers scored and took a 17-8 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Cleveland’s stellar defense forced a 49ers punt, but Gage Larvadain muffed the punt and San Francisco recovered. Six plays later, the 49ers scored.

Game over.

Just as the numbers didn’t tell the entire story in the Browns’ win last week, the numbers tell only a partial story in Sunday’s loss.

After Sunday’s game, Sanders took responsibility for not being an effective enough leader when the Browns made crucial blunders, or when adversity struck.

“So it’s about being more confident whenever we are getting slow,” he said. “It’s about rallying the guys, and I didn’t do a great job of that today, rallying everybody together whenever things aren’t going our way and staying focused and staying on it. So that’s something off the field I know I’ve got to improve. Even when I shoot my shot and miss, I just gotta keep shooting and I gotta keep bringing everybody together.”

Perhaps the pressing question around Sanders is how good is he and how good can he be?

“He’s a good, young quarterback. He’s mobile, he’s got a big arm, tremendous confidence,” San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said in reference to Sanders’ performance against Las Vegas. “He made a couple of really, really good throws in the game against Vegas, extending plays, getting out of the pocket, delivering the ball where it needed to be delivered.

“Obviously, he showed good command of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. You anticipate someone like him who’s got that confidence, who has that skill set. He’s just going to get better and better every week.”

I suspect that the Browns will be favored to defeat Tennessee in a game that features two rookies— Sanders, of course, and Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Sanders and many of his fans felt that he should have been the No. 1 or 2 pick of the draft, not a fifth-round pick. Sanders will have to muster all of the discipline and restraint at his disposal on Sunday to keep from turning the game into a referendum on his self-worth.

Stefanski believes he will.

“Obviously, on game day, there’s a juice that comes with that, there’s an excitement that comes with that,” he said. “But he’s played that position for a long time. He knows how to make sure he keeps the main thing the main thing.”

Sanders may be turning a corner, and the change will be productive. Dropping down in the draft, being at the bottom of the depth chart, no opportunity until November — all of it has made him understand the fragility of life in the NFL.

“In life, you gotta understand how quickly things come or how long it comes,” he told reporters before Sunday’s game. “[Opportunity] could be taken [away] at any point in time. So, I’m never comfortable in the situation I’m in. I always want to exceed expectations, and I always want to grow. You know, in each and every week, I will want to put [out] a better product of myself, be a better version of myself for the team to be out there.”

The Browns lost another game on Sunday, but in the long run, and with a maturing Sanders, they may have won.

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