There is no doubt that despite Dillon Gabriel’s poor performances as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns since Week 5, the only way he would lose his job was through injury, especially since Kevin Stefanski had shown a lot of patience with the former Oregon quarterback. However, the NFL is a cruel league, and the injury eventually came for Gabriel.
Early in the third quarter, Dillon Gabriel left the game to be evaluated for a concussion, and that’s when the moment Browns fans had been waiting for finally arrived. Shedeur Sanders took the field with 12:43 left in the third quarter and with a 16-10 lead over the Baltimore Ravens. Everything seemed perfect-he completed his first two passes-but then everything fell apart.
Shedeur Sanders was intercepted once and nearly threw another. He completed only 4 of 16 passes for 47 yards and was sacked twice, so the criticism came quickly. Even worse for Sanders and the Browns was that they ended up losing the game 23-16 to the Baltimore Ravens, in a matchup where Cleveland’s defense had managed to contain Lamar Jackson.
Kevin Stefanski does not want Shedeur Sanders to succeed
It was normal for Shedeur Sanders to be the last option on the Cleveland Browns’ depth chart when preseason began, considering there were two veterans, Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, as well as Dillon Gabriel, who was drafted in the third round. Remember that Shedeur Sanders, despite being projected as a first-round pick, ended up falling to the fifth round with the 144th overall pick.
The toughest part for Shedeur Sanders is that he had never had the chance to practice with the Browns’ first-team offense, and his debut against the Baltimore Ravens was the first time he worked with the starters. That may have been the reason the former Colorado Buffaloes player struggled so badly.
Shedeur Sanders was exposed, but there is a culprit-Kevin Stefanski. Former NFL MVP Cam Newton said on an ESPN program that he advised Sanders not to take the field: “I do not think Kevin Stefanski wants Shedeur Sanders to succeed in Cleveland… if I’m Shedeur, I would not want him to take the field.”
What is certain is that it was a very difficult debut for Shedeur Sanders, one that fuels the critics he has had throughout his highly publicized career. For now, if Dillon Gabriel does not clear the concussion protocol, Sanders will be the starter next Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. It will undoubtedly be another week full of drama at the Browns’ training facility.
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