Whether you’re a casual observer or a diehard member of the Dawg Pound, it’s almost impossible for anyone to have expectations for the Cleveland Browns. The franchise has produced just four winning regular seasons since the turn of the century, and they have just one playoff win since 1994.
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So even though the debut of Shedeur Sanders has helped to create a little bit of a buzz around the team, the roster is still just as starved of talent today as it has been for the past several decades. And for those who had been hoping to see the former Colorado Buffalo succeed in his rookie season, such as Asante Samuel, that’s been incredibly hard to accept.
“Jerry Jeudy, go make a play,” the former New England Patriot exclaimed while reflecting on the Browns’ Week 13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. “I saw clips of Jerry Jeudy on Twitter, he was going off on Shedeur on the sideline… As terrible as Jerry Jeudy has been playing, and him not stepping up for the young rookie quarterback, he should be saying nothing. He shouldn’t have anything bad to say about anyone or anything on that team.”
The 23-year-old signal caller informed the press that he felt as if he and his teammates had “let the coaches down” following their loss to San Francisco, but according to Samuel, it’s actually teammates like Jeudy who have been letting Sanders down. This is a bit surprising, as the two-time Super Bowl champion had initially been critical of Sanders, especially throughout the early days of his rookie campaign.
In admitting that he’s been won over by the improved play of Sanders, Samuel explained that:
“I’m just upset to see that Jerry Jeudy thinks he has the right to go off on a young stud in Shedeur Sanders. He’s out there doing everything he can, man. Jerry Jeudy has like eight drops so far in the past six, seven, or 10 games. It’s just crazy man… Go make a play, and then you have every right to say something, but make a play first.”
Nevertheless, Samuel suggested that there is “nothing to worry about” when it comes to the future of Sanders, and the comparison between his first two outings as a starter seems to back that up.
After completing just 55% of his 20 pass attempts and throwing an interception in Week 12, Sanders responded in Week 13 by completing 64% of his passes and doing a much better job at protecting the football.
He still needs plenty of polishing, but then again, so does everything else in Cleveland. So until a better roster is put together, fans can expect these kinds of criticisms to continue.
