Shedeur Sanders entered the league as one of the most talked-about rookies of his draft class, but his long-anticipated first NFL snaps didn’t match the buzz surrounding his arrival.
The Cleveland Browns turned to Sanders in the second half of Sunday’s 23–16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and the performance that followed was one the rookie immediately labeled disappointing.
Sanders was pressed into action when fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel left the game with a concussion. With no advance notice and limited reps with Cleveland’s starters, Sanders struggled to settle in.
After the game, he didn’t mince words about how it went. “I don’t think I played good,” he said, per ESPN. “I don’t think I played good at all.”
The biggest hurdle, he explained, was timing with the receivers — something he hasn’t had much opportunity to build. His throw to Jerry Jeudy on Sunday was their first connection of the entire season. Sanders said there are “a lot of things we need to look at during the week” to get more comfortable and operate within concepts he feels confident running.
Statistically, the afternoon reflected the challenges he described. Sanders completed just 4 of 16 passes for 47 yards, threw an interception, and finished with a 13.5 passer rating.
According to NFL Research, his completion percentage tied for the third-lowest in an NFL debut since 1970 among players with at least 15 attempts. Only two quarterbacks — Scott Stankavage in 1984 and Jeff Komlo in 1979 — debuted with a lower mark.
Sanders described the game as “rough, overall,” but also noted that stepping onto an NFL field for the first time brought a sense of clarity. “This is the first time I got hit since my last game at Colorado,” he said. “Just having that feeling back is good… seeing what it’s actually like.”
Even with the early struggles, Sanders said the final drive didn’t intimidate him. “I know I’m made for it,” he added. “I didn’t think there was a doubt in my mind that we were going to go down there and score.”
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski backed the rookie’s effort, acknowledging the difficulty of entering mid-game with little preparation. “We trust all of our guys,” Stefanski said. “There’s things he’s going to want to do better, but that’s why we work.”