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Shedeur Sanders made his regular season debut for the Cleveland Browns during the team’s 23-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, and it wasn’t the outing he would have hoped for in his first real game in the NFL.
Sanders went 4-of-16 for 47 yards, was sacked twice and threw an interception. The Ravens ultimately saw tight end Mark Andrews score a rushing touchdown in the 23-17 win.
Sanders was critical of himself after the game, but former NFL quarterback Cam Newton said this play supported an opinion he’s had for a while.
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Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns warms up before the game against the Baltimore Ravens at Huntington Bank Field on November 16, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t think Kevin Stefanski wants Shedeur Sanders to succeed in Cleveland,” Newton said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “The reason for this is, don’t tell me what he said, don’t tell me what he’s saying. I’m going away from actions—okay? Let’s go away from actions.
“The bottom line is, if I’m Shedeur, or if I’m a Shedeur Sanders fan, I wouldn’t want him to take the field because that’s consistently going to be the display we’re going to see. It doesn’t matter if it’s Deshaun Watson, it doesn’t matter if it’s Shedeur Sanders, it doesn’t matter if it’s Dillon Gabriel, it doesn’t matter if it’s Danlovsky, it doesn’t matter if it’s Danlovsky. Cam Newton. You need help in cleveland when you have a quarterback still making $46 million and he’s not healthy it affects the talent that’s around him.
The Browns are 2-8 this season, and Sanders marks the third quarterback change since the regular season began. At first, 41-year-old journeyman Joe Flacco led Stefanski’s offense, but he was benched, which led to rookie Dillon Gabriel taking over.
BROWNS’ SHEDEUR SANDERS OFFERS BLUNT CRITICISM OF PERFORMANCE IN NFL DEBUT
After Flacco was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, Gabriel became the full-time starter with Sanders backing him up. It’s been a struggle for Gabriel, who went 7-of-10 for 68 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions Sunday before Stefanski turned to Sanders after Gabriel suffered a concussion.
Newton believes Sanders is being set up to fail, saying the Colorado product and son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders won’t get a fair chance to make his mark in Cleveland.
“But that’s what really annoys me the most… because [Sanders] not getting any reps,” Newton said. “About 2015, around when Cam Newton was the MVP, around when, hey, my backup for [the] most of my career, having a veteran in Derek Anderson was probably the biggest blessing of my career. Ron Rivera still knew, ‘We’re one play away, kid, from you not being available.'”
Cam Newton attends the BET Awards Media House on June 29, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for BET)
Sanders was blunt in his postgame press conference while discussing his performance in his first regular-season action.
“I don’t think I played well,” Sanders said. I think there’s a lot of things we’ll have to look at during the week and just get comfortable with even throwing routes with Jerry [Jeudy] and throwing routes with all those guys.
“I think that was my first ball to him all year,” he continued. “But other than that, I just think overall we just have to go next week and understand so we have a week to prepare things that I like to do.”
To Newton’s point, Sanders hadn’t received any first-team reps in practice prior to this game. He started the season as the team’s third-string quarterback before moving to Gabriel’s backup after the Flacco trade.
Despite the poor outing, Sanders’ confidence is not wavering as the Browns head into next week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road.
Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns walks off the field after losing to the Baltimore Ravens 23-16 at Huntington Bank Field on November 16, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
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“I still have the same confidence. I’m still me,” he said. “I never want to go anywhere. You know, just going out there and seeing daylight, that’s all I needed to see how they move out there. Playing against a great defense. You’ve got Pro Bowl guys out there, so it’s exciting to see. Okay, this is how it is? Okay. This is how it is? I’m excited for it. So you just have to build on this.”
Stefanski has not named a starting quarterback for the Raiders game, although an announcement is expected later this week.
