Will Shedeur Sanders Start For Browns vs. Raiders? Browns HC Updates QB's Status

Shedeur Sanders will make his first career NFL start Sunday when his Cleveland Browns take on the Las Vegas Raiders.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters as much Wednesday while revealing that Dillon Gabriel remains in the concussion protocol.

"Shedeur's going to start at quarterback," Stefanski said. "Dillon is still in the concussion protocol, he is improving."

Stefanski previously told reporters Gabriel would remain the starter if he was healthy.

This comes after Sanders saw his first regular-season action of his career during Sunday's 23-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

▶️ Full Ravens-Browns Recap

05:55

To say things didn't go well would be a massive understatement, as the Colorado product went 4-of-16 for 47 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception while taking two sacks. He was unable to protect the early lead Cleveland built, and Baltimore won a fourth straight game as a result.

"I don't think I played good," Sanders told reporters. "I don't think I played good at all. I think it's a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and just get comfortable. Throwing routes with Jerry [Jeudy], throwing routes with all those guys. I think that was my first ball to him all year. I just think overall we've got to go to next week and understand, so we have a week to prepare stuff I like to do."

In Sanders' defense, he was thrown into anything but an easy situation seeing how he hasn't been consistently working with the first-team offense and hadn't seen any game action since the preseason.

He was also facing a red-hot Ravens team that is making a charge for AFC playoff positioning after its own poor start to the season.

Perhaps the situation will be different against the Raiders now that he knows he will be the starter going into the contest and has time to prepare. Las Vegas is also 24th in the league in points allowed per game and 2-8 on the campaign, so it is a more favorable matchup on paper.

From Cleveland's perspective, this will give it more of an opportunity to evaluate Sanders in live action before it shifts its attention to the offseason and the possibility of selecting another quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft.

If he plays well and builds individual momentum, it could alter the front office's overall approach heading into the future.