Shedeur Sanders generated tons of buzz following his first preseason start. He seemed to be fairly pleased with his performance, too.
Sanders went 14/23 for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns in his Cleveland Browns’ 30-10 win over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday night. The rookie fifth-round pick was interviewed by NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala late in the game and talked about his start. He had a five-word initial reaction to his game, which he had said was like a Super Bowl to him.
“We definitely had a win,” Sanders said in response to his outing and how his “Super Bowl” went.
Though Sanders thought his start overall was a “win,” he was dissatisfied as a whole with how he played and told Kinkhabwala that he thought he could have done better.
“I don’t feel like I took full advantage of the opportunity. It’s something to work on, something to learn from,” Sanders said.
Shedeur Sanders came off the field after his NFL Debut for the #Browns and told our broadcast he had so much fun, he didn’t feel he fully seized his opportunity and he’s not thinking about his reps going forward. He was tremendous; give him a listen:https://t.co/B7CvKZh1L3
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) August 9, 2025
Veteran Joe Flacco is still projected to be the starter in Cleveland, but Sanders certainly did not hurt his cause, and may have given himself a boost in the depth chart.
Sanders was listed during the week as fourth on the Browns’ quarterback depth chart behind Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel. Both Pickett and Gabriel are dealing with injuries that led the Browns to sign a former Pro Bowl QB during the week.
