Shedeur Sanders will remain QB1 in Cleveland for another week.
The 23-year-old rookie quarterback will start for the Browns when they take on the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13, head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Monday.
“Obviously, the No. 1 job of a quarterback is to win,” Stefanski said. “So, excited to get that first win under his belt. Then, the next thing is improvement. That’s what young players do. It’s certainly what young quarterbacks do. You get one game better and that’s just from working at it. So, that’ll be our focus.”
[Related: Browns Should Embrace The Shedeur Sanders Experience]
Stefanski’s announcement came a day after Sanders led the Browns to victory in his first career start, taking down the Las Vegas Raiders by double digits, 24-10. Sanders completed 11 of 20 passes for 209 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the win. While his stats might not jump off the page, Sanders’ three longest completions in that game were the longest thrown by a Browns quarterback this season.
Sanders was also only sacked once and was pressured on eight of his 21 dropbacks.
“I have no questions about his toughness,” Stefanski said. “I think the protection by and far was good. He took a coverage sack early in the game. Definitely room for improvement.”
Sanders said after the game that he felt very relaxed. The past week marked the first time he was able to practice with the first team.
Sanders, who the Browns took in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, got the start Sunday after fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel entered the league’s concussion protocol during their Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Sanders made his first regular-season appearance in that game, going 4-for-17 passes for 47 yards and an interception in the loss.
With Sunday’s win, the Browns improved to 3-8 on the season. More impressively for Sanders, though, was that he was the first Browns quarterback to get a win in their first start since the reintroduction of the franchise in 1999; Cleveland quarterbacks were 0-17 in their first start, while Browns rookie quarterbacks were 0-13 in their first start in that span, per FOX Sports research.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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