The Cleveland Browns fans boomed with approval as quarterback Shedeur Sanders entered an NFL game for the first time in the second half of the team’s Week 11 contest against the Baltimore Ravens, but the rookie didn’t give them much to cheer about after that.
Sanders finished the day 4-of-16 passing for 47 yards and an interception. He also rushed for 16 yards, took two sacks and fumbled once, though Cleveland recovered. Reporters asked Sanders during the postgame about his performance and the fan’s reaction to both him finally getting in a game and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel leaving due to a mandatory entrance into the league’s concussion protocol.
“When Dillon out there playing and all that, I appreciate the fans, I appreciate everybody. But I’m a good person overall, so I don’t really like him not feeling comfortable, confident when he get out there. So it puts everything in a tough spot, and it’s not helping the team,” Sanders said of fans’ previous booing of Gabriel during his struggles.
“So, that could be taken as, ‘OK, I’m being a distraction,’ even though I ain’t doing that, even though I’m not doing nothing,” Sanders continued. “But I’m thankful for the supporters, thankful for the fans, thankful for everybody out there that believes. And yeah, when I got out there, I definitely felt them, and I’m truly thankful for it. … Thankful seeing all them 12 jerseys out there, and it was a great feeling for that. But the feeling of losing, that ain’t nothing we going to get comfortable with on my watch, for sure.”
Gabriel remains in concussion protocol and while it’s possible doctors could clear him ahead of the team’s Week 12 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders next weekend, it is likely that Sanders will get the first start of his career in the desert.
The Browns must practice this week as though Sanders is going to be the starter, as Gabriel’s status is uncertain. Because of that, the coaching staff is likely to tailor the game plan to Sanders’ strengths and finally afford him the first-team practice reps he’s been lacking since joining the franchise in the fifth round of April’s draft.
“Sanders is expected to start Sunday’s game vs. the Raiders in Las Vegas, and fourth-year pro Bailey Zappe will be the backup,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported Monday. “Sanders, who had his house broken into during Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Ravens, will be the 42nd quarterback to start for the Browns since 1999, barring some unexpected occurrence.”
However, head coach Kevin Stefanski was clear that Gabriel will get his starting job back from Sanders once he returns healthy.
Cleveland, now 2-8, was likely to insert Sanders into the starting lineup at some point late in the season to assess his abilities and the QB room as a whole before a 2026 draft, in which the team has two first-round picks. It is unclear if one and a half games will be enough information for the Browns where Sanders is concerned, should Gabriel return healthy following this weekend.
Suffice it to say, Cleveland’s upcoming game in Las Vegas is the most important of Sanders’ football career.
Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions isn’t the kind of coach who ever plays it safe, and that can be a good or bad quality, depending on what day it is and what’s happening on the field. The Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles had a “Sunday Night Football” matchup on Sunday, November 16, and it was one of those nights where a more conservative approach would have benefited the Lions.
The Eagles beat the Lions in a low-scoring, 16-9 game, and Campbell was the one calling the offensive plays. He did something not many head coaches in the NFL do by taking over the offensive play calling duties from offensive coordinator John Morton for this game, as he also did for the team’s game against the Washington Commanders on November 9. Campbell also says that he’ll be doing it for the rest of the season.
In those play calls, Campbell went for it on fourth, which is no surprise. But, the Lions were 0-for-5 on fourth down in the loss, and two of those failed fourth down attempts came in field goal range. On top of that, two of the other fourth down attempts were in their own territory, and those resulted in field goals for Philly.
This was like gambling at a different level. To go for it on basically every fourth is pretty much unheard of in the NFL or at any level of football.
So, will Campbell change? Don’t expect to see a change, although speaking to the media on Monday, November 17, the coach admitted that playing it safe would have been best.
“There’s some things I wish I would have done different,” he said. “The bottom line is, if you go totally conservative in the way this game played out, in the way it was, you’ve got a better chance of winning that game than some of those decisions I made.”
But, here’s where Campbell doubled down on his fourth down calls and identity. “I understand that. But also, that’s who we are. That’s who I am, and it bit us today,” he said.
So, don’t expect Campbell to change. But, he might think twice before going as chancy as he did on Monday against the Eagles.
According to NFL research, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff had the lowest completion percentage of his career, and even though Goff threw for 255 yards, he only completed 38 percent of his passes and finished with a passer rating of 60.1. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery also struggled, although Gibbs led Detroit with five receptions for 107 yards.
But, Campbell also had some kind things to say about the Lions, though. Chatting with the press, he said that the team “felt like we moved the ball pretty decently at times throughout the game and got down there and stall out a few times and obviously the fourth downs weren’t good enough.”
He added, “Give a ton of credit to them. They are a good defense. We like to think, if we were able to get a fourth down or two, it changes the game and even some of those third downs. But they played well and we weren’t even close to up to snuff today.”