Shedeur Sanders' improvement in his first NFL start from previous outings reflected a 'growing' relationship with coach Kevin Stefanski. (TheLandOnDemand)
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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.
Like everything associated with Shedeur Sanders, his relationship with coach Kevin Stefanski has been overly scrutinized and laden with false narratives.
Now that Sanders is the starting quarterback and requiring the full attention of Stefanski, those narratives are falling by the wayside.
Sanders’ legion of supporters – on social media and in national media – have accused Stefanski of sabotaging Sanders’ growth by not giving him first-team practice reps until he became the starter.
Even after Sanders’ first win Sunday in Las Vegas, the coach was criticized for taking Sanders off the field in Wildcat formations (which resulted in two Quinshon Judkins touchdowns) and for not awarding him a game ball in the post-game locker room speech circulated by the Browns’ social media account.
In a different context, safety Grant Delpit acknowledged Sanders has “a crazy fan base.” Sanders said he can’t control it.
“What people do outside the building isn’t really in my control. It’s not in my power,” he said. “So, I don’t … go out there and tell them to do whatever, you know. That’s nothing I can control or nothing I could do.
“But overall, I’m just happy to be here. Coach Stefanski been coaching since I got here, and he’s been doing a very great job with everything that’s going on.”
Asked specifically to describe his relationship with Stefanski, Sanders said, “Definitely like a coach. He tells me what I need to do on and off the field. We’ve definitely grown, our relationship and everything has grown, so I’m just thankful to be here.”
As for not presenting Sanders a game ball immediately after Sunday’s win, Stefanski made the same omission when rookie Dillon Gabriel notched his first career win against Miami.
On Wednesday, Stefanski said, “I mean, every game you go into it trying to just highlight guys. You know, Myles [Garrett] got a game ball. I thought it was probably pretty worthy, but you’re just constantly trying to recognize your guys.
“We spent time this morning as well pointing out all of our guys and the jobs they did. Pointed out Gage [Larvadain] having a big punt return, which was huge for our team. Your D-line doesn’t get 10 sacks unless the coverage is really good. Obviously, a rookie starting his first game on the road, getting a win is huge. So, you acknowledge all that with your team.”
Overall, much ado about nothing. But with Sanders, there’s always something to stir people up.
Stepping up
One of the biggest sources of improvement for Sanders in his first NFL start was eliminating the deep, drive-killing sacks that plagued him at Colorado and in previous stints on the field with the Browns.
Sanders was sacked only one time for three yards in the Raiders’ game, and it came as he was climbing the pocket to escape pressure rather than retreating out of it.
“It was talked about a lot. The coaches stressed it a lot,” said guard Joel Bitonio.
“Shedeur did a great job of getting the ball out when he could. There was a quick passing game. And scrambling to make plays and looking downfield instead of scrambling to go backwards. I thought all those things were huge improvements. And the script of the game. We didn’t have to drop-back pass as much as in some other games. It was great. He worked on it tremendously. Hopefully we continue to emphasize it and continue to protect him.”
Stefanski said, “I thought that was a really, really strong outing for Shedeur in his first start to just have one sack.”
“We talk about a lot in that quarterback room and certainly had a lot of discussions with all the quarterbacks, and Shedeur, on just our pocket movement, our pocket mechanics. When you have players that can escape the pocket and make big plays down the field, naturally there are going to be times where you then expose yourself to a pass rush. So, that balance of finding the completions when they’re there and you can make plays in the pocket. And then also still having that ability to break the pocket, break contain, move up in the pocket, all those types of things where some big plays lie when you do that.”
Jeudy’s explanation
Receiver Jerry Jeudy received some shade for fumbling after a 39-yard catch-and-run when he hesitated with a little jump-step and had the ball knocked out from behind by safety Jeremy Chinn.
“Shit, I was trying to make a play,” Jeudy said. “I was wide open. I saw three defenders right from the cut crossfield. I ain’t feeling behind me. Simple as that.”
Jeudy was back to his usual demeanor. A week ago, he was uncharacteristically curt with answers. Some misconstrued that Jeudy was frustrated with the quarterback change to Sanders or his off season overall.
Jeudy indicated his attitude a week ago had nothing to do with his job.
“I mean, I do play football but I have a life outside of that,” he said. “Football not the only thing I do.”
Brownie bits
Myles Garrett was named AFC defensive player-of-the-week for his three-sack, two-forced fumbles performance against the Raiders. It was Garrett’s fifth such award in his career …
Joel Bitonio was named the Browns’ nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award. Bitonio said, “I think over time it just kind of builds up. You have relationships with guys. It’s always cool to be nominated for something. If you play the game the right way without having to talk too much or do anything crazy [you can be recognized]” …
DNPs for the Browns were tight end Brenden Bates (ankle), cornerback Denzel Ward (migraine), defensive tackle Adin Huntington (quad) and end Alex Wright (quad).