Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel played the first half of Sunday’s Week 11 matchup against the Ravens, but he was evaluated for a concussion at halftime and subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the contest (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). Shedeur Sanders entered the game in relief of Gabriel and got his first taste of regular season action at the professional level.
Sanders, of course, was one of the most-discussed players in this year’s NFL news cycle. The polarizing prospect was once considered to have first-round upside, but he ultimately dropped to the fifth round of the 2025 draft before the Browns finally put an end to his precipitous slide (two rounds after Cleveland selected Gabriel). Veteran Joe Flacco opened the season as the club’s starting quarterback, but following his demotion in favor of Gabriel, Sanders remained the third-string passer.
Even after the trade that sent Flacco to the Bengals, head coach Kevin Stefanski did not immediately name Sanders as Gabriel’s backup. Practice squadder Bailey Zappe appeared to be in consideration for the role, which led to further questions about Sanders’ progress in practice.
Although Stefanski ultimately did tap Sanders as the Browns’ QB2 behind Gabriel, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported earlier this week that the team did not seem anxious to get the second-generation talent into a game. In the end, Gabriel’s head injury forced Stefanski’s hand.
At the end of September, Albert Breer of SI.com expressed his belief that neither Gabriel nor Sanders could do anything this season to prevent the Browns from selecting a passer in the first round of the 2026 draft. Through the first five starts of his pro career, Gabriel did not do anything to refute that notion, as he led the team to a 1-4 record while posting a poor quarterback rating and QBR of 80.4 and 32.3, respectively.
Breer recently reiterated his opinion that Cleveland’s 2026 starting quarterback is not presently on the roster. Interestingly, however, he said he can envision a scenario in which Deshaun Watson takes the field this season.
Watson, who is recovering from a second Achilles tear, is presently on the Browns’ reserve/PUP list. The latest reporting on the matter suggested the embattled passer is unlikely to play in 2025, but Breer’s note injects a little more intrigue into the situation.
Due to Watson’s albatross contract, the Browns would be hit with a ghastly $131.16MM dead cap charge if they were to cut him in the offseason, which lends credence to Breer’s belief that it can’t hurt to have Cleveland trot him out this year if he is healthy enough to play. On the other hand, that obviously would prevent additional evaluation of Gabriel and/or Sanders.
The Browns went into halftime of the Baltimore contest with a 16-10 lead but lost 23-16. Sanders was unable to engineer any scoring drives, and he completed just four of 16 passes for 47 yards and an interception. He added three rushes for 16 yards.
In fairness to Sanders, he had taken no practice reps with the first-team offense, as Stefanski told reporters after the game (via Zac Jackson of The Athletic). Stefanski added Gabriel will return to his QB1 post whenever he clears the concussion protocol.
Shedeur’s debut: 4/16 for 47 yards, 1 int, sacked twice, 13.5 rating
and they said he couldnt QB!
Playing in an offense Cleveland built around Gabriel for Gabriel lmao.
Only Cleveland would build an offense around 1 QB ensuring no other QB on the roster can run it. But I mean Browns gonna Browns
I’m not a big believer in Sanders, but we should note that he didn’t practice with any of the guys that he played with in this game (at least, not as a unit). It really does make a difference, even if the Browns work in plays that Sanders can run from college or due to their commonality.
Of course, a lot of this is on the coaches if they didn’t actually have a gameplan for Sanders to begin with. I still wonder why, in a situation where you have two rookies as your top two QBs, and the starter’s hold on the job is fairly tenuous, why you wouldn’t try to get both players first team reps, or have an offense that’s at least easily translatable? I’m not familiar with the ins and outs of the team, but from the outside, it seems like perhaps some effort could have been made to mitigate a little of this a little better.
“Cause we’re the Cleveland Browns”
“ Cleveland didn’t want Sanders’ introduction to the NFL to be him running an offensive gameplan designed for a shorter, shiftier, left-handed quarterback in a desperation setting.” pro football rumors
“ Because Cleveland is now running an offense specifically catered to Gabriel, it would be difficult for either Flacco or Sanders to step into the offense if Gabriel is hurt or struggling. If this were to happen….” Pro football rumors
“ When Cleveland finally makes the call to give Sanders a shot at the QB1 role, they want him to do so in an offense catered to him instead of one catered to the shorter, shifty, left-handed Hawaiian.” – pro football rumors
I mean to install a completely different system for your QB1 that your backup can’t run and need to install an offense your QB2 can play in but your QB1 can’t run should get everyone from the coaching staff and front office fired immediately.
Yeah, I remember those stories. They sounded like excuse making to me, but if they did actually follow through and develop an offense for a rookie that they’re not super committed to that their backup apparently can’t run, then that’s just a recipe for futility.*
*also worth mentioning that their initial starter, Flacco, was apparently running a different offense, too, from Gabriel. Was Sanders running that offense, Gabriel’s offense, or a different offense? Did the offense even change? I dunno.
There’s a reason why the offense was built around Gabriel and not Shedeur
And we all saw why yesterday
And a fumble which Cleveland did recover and an intentional grounding that shortened the ravens game winning drive
A rough rookie debut, but he did show a few sparks (and I’m no Cleveland fan) It would be good to see how he does with more first-team reps.
Won’t matter. The Browns ensured Sanders nor any QB will play well once they publicly admitted they’re custom fitting their offense play calling and decisions around Gabriel. They’re not suddenly gonna change plans in 1 week and install a whole new offense, approach, scheme to fit Sanders. They’re gonna expect Sanders to run an offense meant for Gabriel cause they’re the Browns
He played like a 5th round rookie coming in mid-game
Or a rookie with no first team reps. No rythm or chemistry.
“In fairness to Sanders”… if he’s going to be an NFL QB, he first has to be a competent backup. Backups usually don’t get many or any reps with the first team, so why use that as an excuse for Sanders? If he’s ready he’s ready, and he wasn’t ready by a long shot (not that Gabriel is setting all that high if a bar to reach either).
I’m going to have to disagree there. Playing QB is partially about developing chemistry with your WRs, and if you’re not throwing the football to those first team guys in practice, you’re not going to have a repoire with them on game day.
This was obviously an injury situation, so I’m not going to crush Cleveland here, but the best way to assess a QB is to name them the starter at the beginning of the week, and let them take those first team reps.
That would be the best way, yes. The worst way would be to put an apparently not yet ready rookie one injury away from playing. And that’s why he shouldn’t have been the backup if he wasn’t good enough to be the starter. But there seems to be this “what harm can it do” attitude towards throwing both of these guys in this season before they should play.
The Browns seem to have this habit of snatching losses from the jaws of victory. As a Steelers fan I was naturally rooting for the Browns and was hoping the kid provided a spark out there. But yes, he looked out of his element on a number of his passes and had this tunnel vision instead of looking to second and third options.
I’ll be interested to see if he gets more snaps moving forward and what the consensus of Browns fans is
Didja see how Baltimore beat the Browns? Ravens line up for a Brotherly Shove, Mark Andrews takes the snap and goes untouched around right end 35 yards for the winning TD. That is entirely on the Browns’ defense.
Agree 100%
@Monkey’s Uncle: I was with you until you said, “that’s why he shouldn’t have been the backup if he wasn’t good enough to be the starter.” That’s ridiculous this day and age in the NfL. There are about a dozen teams that don’t have a true “starter” at least one that will be there starting for more than a year, let alone a backup good enough to start.
In fairness to all GM’s that passed on the internet darling.. golf clap
Backups also aren’t expected to run an offense only made for the starter. When you custom make your offense play calling decisions around Gabriel it makes it hard for Sanders or any QB to immediately come in mid game and run said offense.
That’s on the Browns. Competent teams have an offense and expect both the starter and backup to run it. Not 1 offense for the starter the backup can’t run. But it’s the Cleveland browns
You keep referencing this offense tailor made only for Gabriel, what exactly do you mean by that? All good OC’s call their system based on the talents of their starting QB, if they’re good. I get the impression you’re implying this system is literally only designed for Gabriel and no one else can have success in it.
Yes that’s correct. The system was specifically designed for Gabriel as anyone other than him would have difficulty running it cause it was built for Gabriel. This very website reported such
“ We covered the reason that Sanders hadn’t been named QB2 when the team’s initial starter, Joe Flacco, was demoted. Essentially, Cleveland didn’t want Sanders’ introduction to the NFL to be him running an offensive gameplan designed for a shorter, shiftier, left-handed quarterback in a desperation setting. Not wanting to see Sanders struggle early, the Browns resolved to keep him off the field unless he was ready to run a gameplan designed around his own capabilities.”
link to profootballrumors.com
“ While these attributes differ Gabriel from Flacco a good deal, they also fail to align much with Sanders. Because Cleveland is now running an offense specifically catered to Gabriel, it would be difficult for either Flacco or Sanders to step into the offense if Gabriel is hurt or struggling. If this were to happen, though, Flacco’s experience and leadership as a captain of the team make him the best option to find success in an unfamiliar offense.
Putting Sanders into that position for his first ever NFL action would do him a disservice. It would be difficult for Sanders to thrive in Gabriel’s offense, and per Rapoport, “the Browns want Sanders to be successful when he’s out there.” When Cleveland finally makes the call to give Sanders a shot at the QB1 role, they want him to do so in an offense catered to him instead of one catered to the shorter, shifty, left-handed Hawaiian. So, unless multiple injuries take place, Sanders won’t be making a surprise debut; it should be announced in advance giving the team a week (or more) to develop a gameplan.”
link to profootballrumors.com
And no. No competent HC OC organization runs an offense only your starter can run and run a completely different offense for the backup. That’s insanity and only the browns would be silly enough to try such even though we all know the outcome
MASSIVE news for your unemployed friend
‘Second generation talent’ 😆 😝 😂
Sanders has been there the entire season. He has to prepare himself regardless of how much practice reps he gets. He will get better with more game experience but at least has to know the playbook. Coming in cold can take a minute but once Henry had the long run, you could feel the Ravens ready to pull away.
J.J McCarthy: “Thank goodness Sanders had to play for the Browns and is getting crucified by fans… who apparently didn’t notice my stellar 47.7 passer rating against a putrid Bears defense”.
If I’m the Browns I would just alternate Sanders and Gabriel every other possession and see who plays better.