After being mothballed for 11 weeks, Shedeur Sanders is taking nothing for granted as the starting QB for the remainder of the season. (Cleveland Browns)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Even though coach Kevin Stefanski has committed to Shedeur Sanders for the remaining four games, the rookie quarterback doesn’t feel the security that, say, No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward feels with the Tennessee Titans.
This was evident in an exchange between the two rookies captured on video after the game as Sanders signed a jersey for Ward.
“What you doing in the offseason, bro?” Ward asked Sanders.
“I gotta make it through the season first,” Sanders replied, laughing. “We got two different problems over here, buddy.”
On Wednesday, Sanders was asked to explain what he meant.
“This is my life here, you know, so we on two different spectrums right now,” he said. “I gotta focus on playing my best and being the best player I can for the team, and obviously the situations are different.
“So, I know he puts his all into these games in these final four games, but it’s just a little bit different, because you don’t know what could happen, you know? So, I just go here, enjoy my day, work hard, do everything I can. And if I’m here, I’m here. If I’m not, I’m not. Like, it’s nothing in my control.
“So, I try to control what I can control. That’s going out there and making the right reads, going out there doing the right things, being the person I am. And things will fall how they are supposed to.”
Sanders did not receive practice reps with the first teamers until he took over as the starting quarterback in Game 12 after Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion in Game 11.
In another context, Sanders was asked if he felt the final four games were an audition to be the Browns’ starting QB in 2026.
“Yeah, that’s a long, deep thought,” he replied. “Like, that’s not in my focus. My focus right now is the team we’re playing ahead, the Bears. Anything past that I’m not really focused on, honestly. I’m thankful for it, but I’m not content with my situation, with everything. And we’re leading this team.”
Little things mean a lot
Sanders’ 364 yards passing and three touchdowns (plus a fourth on a scramble run) against Tennessee have been the talk of the town.
But inside the Browns’ building, the talk was of growth seen in other areas, such as a simple throwaway on third down on the series immediately after the Devin Bush interception and runback to the Titans’ 39-yard line.
“He scrambled around, was looking to make a play,” Stefanski said. “Nobody wiggled open, and he threw the ball away and we got [a field goal] out of that. I think that’s good progress for a young quarterback.
“You have to know that it’s a fine line of, ‘I’m trying to make a play for my football team and I’m also going to be smart here because I have points.’ You learn that from playing, you learn that from being in these games. And I think he’s making progress there.”
Sanders said, “Sometimes you get in situations where you gotta understand the play’s over, and I’m improving in that. I had a little slip up last week for sure when knowing the play’s over [on the interception in the deep middle of the field].
“But, like, I don’t know – in those situations, sometimes it’s just like, I want to win so bad, I want to make something happen whenever we’re stagnant and stuff like that. So just learning, like from the week before when I took a sack that got us out of field goal position. I learned from that, and I was like, ‘OK, knowing where we are in the field’, understanding, like, ‘OK, I tried my first thing, it don’t work, get it out’. So, then I won’t negatively affect the team.”
It can be done
The Browns are looking at a total rebuild of their offensive line in 2026, as starters Cam Robinson, Joel Bitonio, Ethan Pocic, Wyatt Teller/Teven Jenkins, and Jack Conklin all have contracts expiring at the end of this season.
Dawand Jones, Luke Wypler and Zak Zinter are young, home-grown players still under contract and may be looked upon as replacements. Wypler will get a four-game audition at center now that Ethan Pocic’s season ended with a torn Achilles tendon.
Replacing three or four starters on the line sounds daunting, but the Bears did it this year – almost overnight.
On the first day of the 2025 NFL business year, the Bears traded for two veteran starting guards – Jonah Jackson from the Rams and Joe Thuney from the Chiefs – and then extended their contracts for one and two years, respectively.
The next day, they signed free agent center Drew Dalman of the Falcons.
In the second round of the draft, they selected Ozzy Trapilo of Boston College, who has settled in the past three games as the starting left tackle.
Right tackle Darnell Wright, a first-round pick in 2023, is the only starting holdover from last year.
How’d it work out?
Better pass protection has helped to reduce quarterback Caleb Williams’ sacks from a league-high 68 over 17 games last year to 20 through 13 games this season, and the Bears’ run game has improved from 25th last year to second this year. The change to coach Ben Johnson’s offensive scheme has a lot to do with the improvements, of course.
The point is an offensive line can be rebuilt in one offseason.
“I can’t speak to the difficult part of it,” Stefanski said. “I’d just say that they’ve done a nice job, those guys. It’s a good fit for what they’re asking of their guys. They got some talented players.”
Brownie bits
With center Pocic (Achilles) and running back Jerome Ford (shoulder) placed on injured reserve on Tuesday, the team filled their roster spots by signing offensive tackle Jeremiah Byers off the Cardinals’ practice squad and running back Treyveon Williams off the Chargers’ practice squad. Williams was on Browns’ practice squad earlier this year …
Cornerback Tre Avery was moved up from the practice squad to the 53 and safety Christopher Edmunds was waived …
Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst was brought back to the practice squad and defensive tackle Simeon Barrow was released from it …
Ten Browns were DNPs at Wednesday’s practice: Bitonio (knee, back), Conklin (concussion), safety Grant Delpit (illness), defensive tackle Mason Graham (rib), defensive tackle Adin Huntington (quad), tight end David Njoku (knee), running back Dylan Sampson (calf, hand), Teller (quad), receiver Cedric Tillman (concussion, rib), and cornerback Denzel Ward (calf). Stefanski said only Teller has been ruled out of Sunday’s game in Chicago.