Shedeur Sanders' 1st-Team Reps TBD After NFL Preseason Debut, Browns' Stefanski Says

Despite his strong performance in the Cleveland Browns' preseason-opening win over the Carolina Panthers on Friday, it hasn't yet been decided if rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders will receive first-team reps during practice next week.

According to Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was happy with how Sanders played in the 30-10 victory against Carolina, but he "isn't ready to say" if Sanders will get time with the first-team offense during joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Playing in his first NFL game, Sanders got the start against the Panthers on Friday and went 14-of-23 for 138 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 19 yards.

Per ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi, Stefanski gave a diplomatic assessment of Sanders' showing, saying: "There are things that Shedeur can clean up, will clean, but by and large the operation was really good, and that's important when you have different guys in there."

While Sanders is listed in the third-string section of the Browns' depth chart with fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel behind starter Joe Flacco and backup Kenny Pickett, he got the start Friday due to some injury issues.

Neither Pickett nor Gabriel played in the game since they were nursing hamstring ailments, and the decision was made to hold Flacco out of the game as well.

Sanders' role in joint practices with the Eagles may depend on what kind of progress Pickett and Gabriel make in the coming days, as Stefanski told Oyefusi, "We need to get through the next couple days from an injury standpoint and see where everybody is. I'm really focused on all our quarterbacks' development and every single one of [their] reps."

The son of Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders, Shedeur entered the 2025 NFL draft with plenty of fanfare surrounding him.

He was widely expected to be a first-round pick after completing 74.0 percent of his passes for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions en route to being named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Despite that, Sanders fell to the fifth round until the Browns finally took him, making him the second quarterback they selected after nabbing Gabriel in the third.

Although going from a potential first-rounder to a fifth-rounder was disappointing, Sanders landed in a good situation in terms of actually having a chance to compete for the starting job.

Based on how he played on Friday, he may now be firmly in the mix to win the starting job depending on how the rest of the preseason goes.

Sanders' next chance to prove himself in a game situation will come on Aug. 16 when the Browns face the Eagles in a preseason road contest.