Just a few months ago in August, the Cleveland Browns had a whopping six quarterbacks on their roster, and Shedeur Sanders was firmly at the bottom of the totem pole. Now, here we are 11 weeks into the season, and they’ve already traded two of them, released one, and had another be sidelined by a concussion.
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Throughout the past three months, the coaching staff has refused to give the rookie any first-team practice reps, likely because they never thought that they would have to actually start him. Nevertheless, he’s now the last man standing, and he’ll be forced to compete against the Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday while having received just seven days of prep time.
Simply put, the Browns have effectively set Sanders up to fail here. In believing that this is a perfect example of the lack of preparation and mismanagement that has plagued this franchise for the better part of the last 30 years, Cam Newton is placing the blame solely on Kevin Stefanski, and he isn’t holding back either.
“Kevin Stefanski, this has everything to do with you,” Newton pointed during the latest episode of his 4th & 1 podcast. “Let’s get even more specific, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, this has everything to do with you… You can’t tell me that a coach, that doesn’t even mention his player’s name, wants the best interest for his player.”
After it was noted that Week 11 was the first time in which Sanders had ever even thrown to the team’s WR1, Jerry Jeudy, Newton had a visibly hard time maintaining his composure. The hypocrisy in Cleveland has simply become too much for him to ignore, and as a result, he’s attempting to set the record straight.
Having noticed the inconsistencies in Stefanski’s statements to the press, of which there are several, Newton highlighted that,
“The excuse was this; ‘We’re trying to prioritize reps for Dillon Gabriel.’ …Did Dillon Gabriel get any reps when Joe Flacco was the starter and he was still the number two? …The sources told me Dillon Gabriel was getting reps with the ones when he was the number two quarterback on the depth chart. But some way, shape, or form, the number two quarterback, we won’t name his name because we’re going to play the Kevin Stefanski game, don’t get any reps? What sense does that make?”
It may not have been how any of us envisioned it, and he may not have the supporting cast that anyone had hoped for, but for better or worse, Sanders’ time has now come all the same. Regardless of the circumstance, he’ll now have his opportunity to prove that he does in fact belong in the NFL, and if he’s anything like his Hall of Fame father, then he may just end up being the biggest surprise of Sunday afternoon.
