CLEVELAND — There was never a conspiracy. The Cleveland Browns are not actively trying to sabotage one of their own players. 

The absurd, unhinged discourse of the past six months that the Browns were setting Shedeur Sanders up to fail was put to rest over the final 30 minutes Sunday when Sanders fell down every flight of stairs in his NFL debut. 

He was 4-for-16 for 47 yards and an interception in the Browns’ 23-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He had a quarterback rating of 13.5 and an Expected Points Added per play of minus-0.67 — the worst mark of the week for any quarterback entering Sunday night.

Most importantly, the Browns were winning when he entered the game in the second half after starter Dillon Gabriel was knocked out with a concussion. They blew the lead when he couldn’t sustain any offense and lost the game when the final drive stalled at the Ravens’ 25-yard line. 

Sanders certainly didn’t look like an NFL starting quarterback for most of his time on the field Sunday. That doesn’t mean he won’t ever get there. All of the criticisms of him — he holds the ball too long, he isn’t processing what he’s seeing, he runs out of the back of the pocket when pressured — were on full display in the second half. He was sacked twice, including on his opening possession, and Ravens defensive players celebrated by mocking him with his popular “wrist up” celebration.

His supporters will argue that Sanders was again set up to fail by not getting any first-team practice reps at any point in training camp and during the season. The reality is the biggest crime committed by this franchise wasn’t holding him back, but rather exposing him to this by inexplicably trading both veteran quarterbacks off this roster. 

Shortly after the draft, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski began informing members of the organization that this would be a “redshirt” year of sorts for Sanders. He wasn’t expected to play at all this year unless things got ugly. The Browns wanted him to sit and learn. 

We’re not even to Thanksgiving yet and darkness has fallen on Cleveland. There was Sanders, thrust into duty as the backup quarterback in November when the Browns began the season, hoping he wouldn’t have to play at all. 

Shedeur SZN pic.twitter.com/DPqGunlxa3

— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth, right? Except this time, the Browns punched themselves in the face. 

They seemed to have some semblance of a plan when they concluded the second night of the draft: Either Kenny Pickett or Joe Flacco would be the starter, the other would be the backup and Gabriel was the third-round project who could sit and learn behind two veterans. Then the Browns would likely circle back to quarterback at the top of next year’s draft. 

Even owner Jimmy Haslam acknowledged that when he left Browns headquarters following the second round of the draft, selecting Sanders wasn’t in their plans. 

After sleeping on it, however, the Browns threw a grenade into their own building when they selected Sanders in the fifth round. General manager Andrew Berry maintained all summer that he was open to carrying four quarterbacks on the roster. There wasn’t a realistic thought that this team would compete for a playoff spot, so it made a little bit of sense to at least keep all four early and let the development process run its course. 

Then the Browns traded Pickett before the final 53-man roster was submitted before the start of the season and followed that up by trading Flacco days after Gabriel made his first NFL start in London. Within months, the Browns went from two veteran quarterbacks to none. They left themselves without a safety net, while the frigid winds of Lake Erie have now battered both young quarterbacks. 

The reality is that third- and fifth-round quarterbacks rarely find great success in the NFL, and particularly not as rookies. The odds were always against Sanders and Gabriel succeeding as a franchise quarterback.

Sanders is the 21st quarterback selected in the fifth round since 2000. None before him has produced an exemplary NFL career. 

Still, Stefanski was trying to keep to the idea of not playing Sanders this year. In the days after the Flacco trade, he began telling members of the organization that Bailey Zappe — not Sanders — would be promoted off the practice squad to be the backup quarterback. He even hinted when discussing how the Flacco trade surprised them that Sanders may stay the No. 3 quarterback.

“I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development,” Stefanski said at the time. “I want to make sure I’m always doing what’s best for our player, and of course, our team.”

By Friday, 72 hours after the Flacco trade, all of that had changed. Stefanski surprised everyone when Sanders was officially installed as the backup quarterback days before the Browns played at the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s been there ever since. 

When Gabriel was smashed on a play late in the first half Sunday, he was examined at halftime for a concussion check. When he’ll be cleared to return remains anyone’s guess, but it won’t be surprising if he misses at least a week. 

Stefanski was quick to say Sunday night that if and when he is cleared, Gabriel will return to being the starter and Sanders will return to the bench. Gabriel has hardly dazzled now in six starts, and it’s far from a sure thing he’ll be ready to play next weekend at the Las Vegas Raiders. 

As bad as Sunday looked, I want to see more of Sanders. The seal has already been broken. What’s the harm in playing him now? Another loss? 

Every Shedeur Sanders play from his regular season debut pic.twitter.com/5TA42lJKiu

— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2025

Give him a full week of preparation against a bad Raiders team and see if it looks any better. He isn’t going to improve in 7-on-7 drills when he can hold the ball as long as he’d like until a receiver comes open, as he did all summer. The only way to speed up his internal clock is against an NFL pass rush. 

His best throw Sunday may have been a feathery pass to Gage Larvadain on a scramble drill in the corner of the end zone after protection broke down that would’ve tied the score with 1:08 left, but the Ravens’ Chidobe Awuzie made a terrific defensive play to break it up. Sanders also had Isaiah Bond open in the end zone on the previous play, but missed him wide. 

So start him again with a week of preparation and see if it looks any better. It can’t possibly look worse. But the idea that a 2-8 football team, and a regime that may be coaching for its jobs, would sabotage a player is as weak as Sanders’ final numbers Sunday. 

There’s a reason he hasn’t been playing. We all just saw why.