BEREA, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders completed more passes to the Bears during Sunday’s 31-3 loss than he did to No. 1 receiver Jerry Jeudy, but Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees still found some bright spots in Sanders’ bad game.
In slipping to 1-3 as a starter, Sanders went 18 of 35 for 177 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions en route a 30.3 rating. He was also sacked five times and hit 15. It was by far worse game in 4 1/2 appearances, and represented a setback in his development. It was also a missed opportunity for Sanders, who has seven games to convince the Browns they don’t need to draft a quarterback with one or both of their first round picks in the draft.
But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Rees saw some things that a coordinator can love, especially the two deep passes to Isaiah Bond, for 42 and 47 yards. His would-be 24 yard TD pass to Jeudy that was snatched out of his hands for a pick was also perfect throw.
“There were some explosive plays there,” Rees said. “I thought the third down where he hit IB (Isaiah Bond) down the middle of the field, the drop was really good, the timing was good. That was a look that we kind of had prepped for, knowing how they were going to play and just felt like there was a real improvement there on seeing the coverage, recognizing the timing that it needed to come out on and making that explosive.
“Had a good alert there on the post to IB versus zero, stayed in the pocket, threw it on time to a spot, getting hit, evades the rush well, was able to extend and there’s always positives to draw on. They don’t always drive home results, but there’s always things, little things within the game that you’re going to have positives on and you look to continue to build upon. There’s going to be ups and downs. There’s going to be things that you want to coach.”
On the second deep ball to Bond, Sanders adjusted his route, another sign of growth.
“We want to have a lot of trust in our guys, right?” Rees said. “There’s going to be stuff they see on the field. There’s going to be stuff that happened during the game and that’s something in the quarterback room we talk about. And we talk about having the trust and communication and certain looks can take you to certain things.”
Rees rejected the notion that Sanders targeted tight end Harold Fannin Jr. too often, despite the fact that two of his three picks — the two that were his fault — came on passes intended for Fannin, and that the defenders telegraphed the throws. Fannin had a game-high 14 targets, catching seven for 48 yards. No one else was targeted more than four times, with No. 1 receiver Jeudy going 2 for 4 for 22 yards, with the near-TD pass getting swiped for the pick.
Sanders has emphasized he needs to develop trust with his receivers, including Jeudy, but Rees doesn’t see that as the issue.
“I don’t think it has a lot to do with the lack of trust across the board,” Rees said. “I think the ‘Harold Fannin well’ is a pretty good one to be at. I would say, we have trust in our players. Shedeur has trust in the guys that are out there. Harold, a lot of the times you’re going to find him, within the progression. Harold’s done a nice job of winning consistently for us as other guys have as well. So, this is not like a force-feed to Harold. It’s just, sometimes the coverage dictates it and Harold’s done a nice job for us.”
He also praised Jeudy, like everyone else on the staff has done this season amid his frustrating year. Jeudy is 73rd in the NFL with only 40 receptions, and tied for 59th with 519 yards. He’s also tied for first in the NFL with 10 drops, according to Fox Sports.
“I love Jerry Jeudy,” Rees said. “ And I love what he brings to our group. I love what he approaches the game with. I love his commitment to football. Whether or not he’s made every catch that we want him to make, we’re going to still feature him. We’re still going to work with him; we’re still going to trust him. Like none of that on our end is wavered at all. That’s why we still want to find ways to utilize his strengths.
“And every time the ball goes to Jerry, we have trust that it’s going to be a completion, and we have trust that he’s going to win. And that’s what Jerry has earned with us. And we want to continue to pour into him and continue to make sure that, fundamentally and mentally and the things we’re asking him to do, we’re continuing to bring the best out of him. And, we do have trust that he’s going to make plays for us moving forward.”
By the time Sanders got to his third interception in the fourth quarter, he was pressing to close the 28-3 gap, something he’s done several times this season. How does he try to hunt the next explosive without throwing it to the other team?
“You’ve got to allow the defense and your eyes and your progression take you to where the ball’s supposed to be, take you where the completion’s supposed to be,” Rees sad. “You’re not going to get it all back in one play. So many times we have players on the outside, players that we get the ball in their hands and things can be created that way. It’s continuing to harp on those and follow the defense and allow them to help dictate where the ball should end up and listen to your feet and eyes as you’re working your progressions.”
Sanders, who played behind a makeshift line in Chicago and was without tight end David Njoku (knee) and mostly without Cedric Tillman, who played only seven snaps coming off a concussion, also lamented his 52.2% completion percentage, which is 48th in the NFL. It’s also a far cry from his FBS-high 74% completion percentage last year at Colorado.
“The completion percentage is not solely on the quarterback,” Rees said. “There’s other areas whereas an offensive unit, we need to improve and help him out. And then there’s some areas there where we can find completions that are accessible, and then we’ve got to finish the play at other spots. So, we want to be efficient, but we also want to be able to create explosives, which he’s done a nice job of. And finding that balance is something as a young player that we’re going to continue to work on.”
Again, Sanders has noted that he’s most accurate and efficient when he’s playing with confidence and trusting his receivers. He noted that this week that it’s a work in progress and requires constant communication.
“As often as we can, we want him to feel confident and comfortable,” Rees said. “And when he does and he lets it rip, he’s as accurate as you’d want. That’s one of his greatest strengths is his accuracy. It’s just about sometimes putting the mental side and the physical side together so that you can play on time and play free.”
Sanders also got a lot of disguised coverages against the Bears, and will see more over the next three games. He’s learning on the fly, and the Bill, with their second-ranked pass defense, will have some wrinkles in store for him.
“They do a lot of good things in coverage,” Rees said. “They’ve got veteran players in the back end that have been in that system a long time. Obviously head coach (Sean McDermott) is a defensive back guy by trade and they take a lot of pride in their ability to have disguise in their coverages and trying to keep you off balance.
“We have to find a balance. We have to find the ability to run the ball. It’s kind of been hot and cold for us throughout the year, and we’ve got to really rely on that and find ways to get Q (Quinshon Judkins) going and allow our offense to be complementary. When you can run the ball well, it really opens up a lot of things and you can stay efficient and it keeps you in better situations on third down.”
Browns left guard Joel Bitonio has seen Sanders handle the simulated pressures and disguised coverages better over the weeks.
“It’s difficult,” he said. “This league is tough. The Bears did a great job. The Bills are probably up there in disguise as well, so it’s going to be a challenge for us. But he’s grown. When he first came in the game, I think you saw some sim looks from Baltimore that we haven’t picked up. Against the Bears we actually did.
“There’s one or two that there was an unblocked guy, but overall we picked up the pressures a lot better. And that’s just communication from the center to the quarterback. They’re on the same page. They’re kind of seeing things through the same lens and that’s been big for us.”
With three chances left to prove to the Browns they don’t need to draft a new franchise quarterback, Sanders must build on the positives Rees saw in Chicago.
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