ExtremeRavens Posted 15 hours ago Posted 15 hours ago The moment the entire NFL community held its collective breath and anticipated since April finally happened. Shedeur Sanders stepped in as the Browns’ quarterback. What many in Cleveland and around the league waited for turned into a deflating collapse: 13 unanswered Baltimore points, a 4-for-16 performance from Sanders and a potential game-winning drive from the rookie that faltered in Ravens territory. “I don’t think I played good,” Sanders said after the 23-16 loss. “I don’t think I played good at all.” Sanders entered on the Browns’ first drive of the second half with Cleveland leading 16-10 after starter Dillon Gabriel was ruled out with a concussion. With completions of 10 and 25 yards and a 5-yard scramble from Sanders, the Browns reached the Ravens’ 25-yard line with 1:02 remaining, attempting to tie the game with a touchdown. Sanders then went 0-for-3 on his final set of downs, overthrowing an open Isaiah Bond in the end zone and having his final attempt to tight end David Njoku broken up by linebacker Roquan Smith. The former Colorado star passed for 46 yards and added 16 rushing yards on three attempts. The Browns crossed midfield just once out of six drives in the second half. “Shedeur’s made unbelievable strides in the meeting room and on the field,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “I know he wants to be better and will be better, but that will come from hard work.” Sanders opened his first drive with a 5-yard completion to Cedric Tillman, then found Njoku for 7 yards on second-and-15. But the rookie’s debut jitters showed soon after — safety Kyle Hamilton stripped him on a sack before a Browns lineman recovered the fumble. Hamilton flashed Sanders’ signature watch celebration after the play. Baltimore didn’t have to wait long for its takeaway. On the next series, cornerback Nate Wiggins jumped a ball intended for Jerry Jeudy and picked off Sanders. The rookie got the ball right back moments later, though, when Lamar Jackson threw an interception of his own. Sanders nearly handed it back again on the following drive, with Hamilton breaking on another pass and almost hauling in his second takeaway. The rookie settled in briefly, scrambling 5 yards to move the chains before Keyon Martin dropped him for a drive-ending sack. “We really didn’t give him a chance to breathe at all,” coach John Harbaugh said. “ thought the coverage was really good … Just tight coverage, batting balls and getting [pass breakups].” The Ravens planned to select the former Colorado quarterback in the fifth round with the 141st overall pick before Sanders said that he didn’t want to be on the roster that included a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player in Jackson, according to a September report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter citing anonymous league sources. Schefter noted Sanders’ concerns of not having a viable path to playing time. Three picks later, Cleveland selected Sanders with the 144th overall pick, two rounds after picking Gabriel, a former Oregon quarterback. Sanders declined to comment on the report when Cleveland visited Baltimore on Sept. 14. “My memory don’t even go back that far,” he said. “I don’t remember anything post draft.” But his father — NFL Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders — expanded on the topic that month on the “New Heights” podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce, arguing that sitting on the bench isn’t how quarterbacks develop in the NFL. “How in the world can somebody fault him for saying or thinking, ‘Why in the world would I go back up Lamar for 10 more years?’” Deion Sanders said. That moment could have come when Jackson sat out three games in October with a hamstring injury. Cooper Rush, signed in March to a two-year deal, started two of them — both losses — while the offense mustered just 13 combined points and he threw four interceptions. Tyler Huntley started the final game in Jackson’s absence, a 30-16 win over the Bears on Oct. 26, finishing with no turnovers and a passing touchdown. Stefanski acknowledged that Sunday was essentially Sanders’ first real work with the Browns’ starting offense. He confirmed that Sanders hadn’t taken first-team reps in practice, saying that those snaps had to stay with fellow rookie Gabriel. Joe Flacco opened the season as the Browns’ starter before being traded to the Cincinnati Bengals following Joe Burrow’s toe injury. Stefanski acknowledged that there’s naturally an adjustment when a rookie backup is thrown into a game cold, particularly against a defense like Baltimore’s. He added that Sanders will start if Gabriel remains in the concussion protocol, and that the staff would build a game plan around what Sanders is most comfortable with if that scenario plays out. “I think you seen it was just rough overall,” Sanders said. “I got to take this one, I got to decompress … I’m still the same confidence. I’m still me. I’ll never go anywhere.” Whether or not Sanders wanted to end up with the Ravens, it appears that he and his father might have had a point. The hyped and social-media-savvy quarterback might need more time to develop. Have a news tip? Contact Michael Howes at mhowes@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/Mikephowes. View the full article Quote
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