Shedeur Sanders will remain QB1 in Cleveland for another week.
The 23-year-old rookie quarterback will start for the Browns when they take on the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13, head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Monday.
“Obviously, the No. 1 job of a quarterback is to win,” Stefanski said. “So, excited to get that first win under his belt. Then, the next thing is improvement. That’s what young players do. It’s certainly what young quarterbacks do. You get one game better and that’s just from working at it. So, that’ll be our focus.”
[Related: Browns Should Embrace The Shedeur Sanders Experience]
Stefanski’s announcement got here a day after Sanders led the Browns to victory in his first profession begin, taking down the Las Vegas Raiders by double digits, 24-10. Sanders accomplished 11 of 20 passes for 209 yards, a landing and an interception within the win. Whereas his stats won’t leap off the web page, Sanders’ three longest completions in that sport have been the longest thrown by a Browns quarterback this season.
Sanders was additionally solely sacked as soon as and was pressured on eight of his 21 dropbacks.
“I’ve no questions on his toughness,” Stefanski stated. “I feel the safety by and much was good. He took a protection sack early within the sport. Positively room for enchancment.”
Sanders stated after the sport that he felt very relaxed. The previous week marked the primary time he was in a position to observe with the primary group.
Sanders, who the Browns took within the fifth spherical of the 2025 NFL Draft, acquired the beginning Sunday after fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel entered the league’s concussion protocol throughout their Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Sanders made his first regular-season look in that sport, going 4-for-17 passes for 47 yards and an interception within the loss.
With Sunday’s win, the Browns improved to 3-8 on the season. Extra impressively for Sanders, although, was that he was the primary Browns quarterback to get a win of their first begin because the reintroduction of the franchise in 1999; Cleveland quarterbacks have been 0-17 of their first begin, whereas Browns rookie quarterbacks have been 0-13 of their first begin in that span, per FOX Sports activities analysis.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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