“I’m Really Proud of the Progress”: Kevin Stefanski Weighs In on Shedeur Sanders’ Improvement

Shedeur Sanders has shown significant improvement with the Cleveland Browns since becoming their starting quarterback. He’s finally been practicing with the starters and has been putting in the work every day. Even head coach Kevin Stefanski, whom many believe doesn’t favor Shedeur, said he’s been proud of the quarterback’s work ethic and noticeable improvement.

The 2025 season has been another campaign to forget for the Browns. At the very least, though, Shedeur has given the fanbase something to look forward to on Sundays for now. All season, there has been drama over whether he should be starting. Now that he is, he has taken the position and run with it.

In three starts, the Colorado product has thrown for 769 yards and five passing touchdowns, while also adding a rushing score. During that stretch, the Browns have gone 1-2. Not ideal, but Sanders became the first Cleveland quarterback to win his debut start since 1995.

When reflecting on the Shedeur experience so far, Stefanski had nothing but good things to say about him.  

“I’m really proud of the progress that he’s making. He’s doing a good job of the intangible things that we’re asking him to improve. He’s doing it just by working hard at it. Those types of things show up on game day,” Stefanski said (via NFL Game Previews).

Coming into the NFL, Shedeur faced a lot of criticism about his game. The biggest concern was his tendency to drift backward in the pocket during passing plays and take bad sacks. While that issue has somewhat persisted, last Sunday he had several instances where he stepped up in the pocket to make throws downfield.

It’s this type of improvement that Stefanski says he loves to see. Regardless, some fans of Shedeur still weren’t buying the praise. 

“FIRE STEFANSKI,” one wrote.

FIRE STEFANSKI @Browns

— No Swim Zone (@noswimzone) December 14, 2025

Another fan simply responded with a GIF of the actress Zendaya rolling her eyes. Meanwhile, one person admitted that Stefanski was being fair for once.

“As much as I don’t like him, this the best I’ve seen him speak about Shedeur directly,” they said. 

It certainly is the clearest example so far of Stefanski saying something positive about Shedeur. This season, he has appeared reluctant to heap praise on the young quarterback. That may simply be his coaching style, with an emphasis on keeping Sanders grounded and focused.

Stefanski was also the one who named Shedeur the starting quarterback for the rest of the season. In that sense, he has done what he can to show belief in his fifth-round pick, at least for now.

With some tough games coming up, it will be interesting to see whether Sanders can keep performing at a high level and hold on to the job without question. Ideally, Cleveland would love to avoid drafting yet another quarterback and head into next year with someone they believe can be the future.