CLEVELAND — Shedeur Sanders entered the game to a standing ovation from Browns fans.
He exited the field after holding his head in his hands while sitting on the bench contemplating another Cleveland loss.
The rookie quarterback from Colorado made his NFL debut after starter Dillon Gabriel was ruled out after being evaluated for a concussion at halftime against Baltimore. While the anticipation was high for Sanders, the results were muted, as he finished with 47 yards on 4-of-16 passing as the Ravens rallied for a 23-16 win at Huntington Bank Field on Sunday.
Ravens 23, Browns 16: Shedeur Sanders struggles in debut, Myles Garrett’s 4 sacks wasted
“I don’t think I played good,” said Sanders, who addressed the team after the game and took responsibility for the loss. “I don’t think I played good at all. I think it’s a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and just get comfortable, even throwing routes with Jerry (Jeudy) and throwing routes with all those guys. So I think that was my first ball to him all year. No, but other than that, I just think overall we just got to go next weekend and understand so then we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do.”
To be fair, the offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders with Gabriel at the helm. The rookie from Oregon again struggled, completing seven of his 10 attempts for only 67 yards.
Cleveland’s only touchdown was produced by the defense, as it had to settle for three field goals — including a 24-yarder after the offense was set up 6 yards from the end zone off a muffed punt recovered by safety Grant Delpit. But Gabriel and company produced no yards in three plays.
Sanders, who opened the season as the team’s No. 3 quarterback, hasn’t taken any repetitions with the starting offense in practice. But he was not about to use that as an excuse.
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“The most I could ask for is opportunity,” he said. “See that’s an uncontrollable thing that I’m not able to control and that’s not nothing I should speak on just being the quarterback of this team and this franchise. It gave me opportunity. I ain’t do up to my expectation, enough to get us a win. So I just got to take that one to the chin.”
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders on not playing well pic.twitter.com/mRWzQQRewq
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Sanders looked like someone taking his first NFL snaps, especially on his first five possessions. Though he did complete his first attempt to Cedric Tillman for 5 yards, the drive quickly stalled after Sanders was sacked for an 11-yard loss on third down.
He was sacked twice and called for intentional grounding while trying to avoid another. He also threw an interception, but the Browns defense bailed him out by picking off Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on the next play.
However, as the game went on, Sanders started to find a rhythm. He made some big throws on the final drive, including a 25-yard completion to tight end Harold Fannin.
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“I think you’ve seen it was just rough overall,” Sanders said. “It was a rough day overall. But the thing that I was excited about is just being able to get out there. It’s the first time I got hit since my last game at Colorado. So just having that feeling back is good and I feel fulfilled overall when it comes to being out there practicing, going in between the lines, seeing actually what it’s like.”
Sanders added that there wasn’t a doubt in his mind the Browns were going to score on the final drive, even though things didn’t go that way, and that he’s not satisfied with the loss.
Browns Kevin Stefanski on Shedeur Sanders’ debut. pic.twitter.com/T0NJSkgTvk
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His teammates also noticed his improvement as the game went on. Jeudy, who hauled in a third-down conversion during the final drive, said he saw Sanders grow from his first drive to the final possession, adding that it took some time for him to get his feet wet and gain confidence.
And if Gabriel can’t go in Week 12 in Las Vegas, Sanders will get the call again, this time with more preparation.
“We trust all of our guys,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We trust our guys to perform. He’s no different. And playing a backup quarterback role, as we’ve talked about over the years, that’s tough to come in there. But we trust him. I know there’s things that he’s going to want to do better, but that’s why we work.”
