Shedeur Sanders will serve as backup quarterback for the Cleveland Browns for their matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed on Friday
Dillon Gabriel, who threw for 190 yards and two touchdowns in his first NFL start last week against the Minnesota Vikings in London, will remain the starter.
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Earlier this week Stefanski wasn’t ready to announce whether Sanders or practice squad quarterback Bailey Zappe would be the team’s backup. On Friday, he said he wanted to ensure the move was the right decision for the team.
“In any decision, with the football team, just want to take time and make sure I’m doing what’s right for the players,” Stefanski said.
Sanders, the Browns fifth-round draft pick in 2025, gets the bump up the depth chart following the trade this week of Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. That transaction upped the spirits of Sanders this week, who said he was feeling good and excited about being one step closer to playing.
“I’m in a great mental space overall,” Sanders said. “So I would say you tend to get a little bit more excited when you see a light at the end of the tunnel, for sure. … Whatever my role is here, I’m thankful. I’m happy just to do that.”
It was a different reaction for Sanders than the one he gave reporters after Gabriel was named starter. The Colorado product chose to silently mouth his answers when asked about the quarterback change, and refused to vocalize his thoughts.
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Sanders remains confident he can step in whenever Stefanski calls upon him for live action. He’s already said that he’s “capable of doing better than” some of the starting quarterbacks across the league.
Now he’s one step closer to showing it.
“I think every day as an individual, you probably learn something about yourself, that you didn’t know the day before,” Sanders said. “So waking up and existing every day, I would say you learn more. So to answer that question, yeah, I feel like now I’m ready. Even not saying I wasn’t ready before, but now I’m ready for whenever my opportunity is.”
