Browns coach reveals why Shedeur Sanders still isn’t getting first-team practice reps

Shedeur Sanders is the backup quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, but his opportunity to start still feels distant.

The Browns are 2-5 and the offense has been the worst in the NFL in most statistical categories. Cleveland already benched and traded Week 1 starting quarterback Joe Flacco in favor of rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel.

Unfortunately for Sanders, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski revealed on Wednesday that the former Colorado quarterback is not getting the same opportunities behind the scenes that Gabriel was given just a few weeks ago.

Stefanski confirmed that Sanders has not received practice reps with the first team offense like Gabriel did when Flacco was the starting quarterback for the first four games of the season.

“With a young quarterback, with Dillon starting, you want to make sure he gets a lot of the reps,” Stefanski said. “It’s different when you have a veteran with Joe.”

Stefanski added that Sanders is “still getting reps in a bunch of periods” but did not extrapolate on what that looks like.

After the Browns traded Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals, Stefanski admitted that he was “surprised” by the trade. Even though the Browns had benched Flacco, the 40-year-old veteran was serving as the backup to Gabriel with Sanders as the third-string.

Even after Flacco’s trade, Stefanski did not initially commit to Sanders as the backup quarterback. But prior to Cleveland’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6, Stefanski decided to publicly announce that Sanders would be the backup.

The Browns drafted Gabriel 50 slots ahead of Sanders in the NFL Draft. Cleveland’s offense did not receive any spark when Gabriel took over the reins, as the game plans have been tremendously conservative. He has taken care of the football, and by all accounts, the Browns plan to keep starting him despite three boring performances.

Sanders exploded onto the scene with the Browns after his debut in the preseason against the Carolina Panthers. Gabriel was unable to start that game due to an injury, and Sanders took the opportunity and ran with it. He threw two sizzling touchdown passes in tight windows and left football fans everywhere wanting more.

But the other shoe dropped in Cleveland’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams. Sanders was sacked five times, looked lost in the pocket and proved that he needed a little bit more development before regular season action.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported after the Flacco trade that the expectation remains that the Browns will get a look at Sanders at some point during the regular season – but nobody is really sure of when that will happen.

With Gabriel still getting the majority of meaningful reps at practice, Sanders will have to keep waiting for his opportunity to play. Gabriel gets the nod again as the Browns travel to Massachusetts to face the New England Patriots on Sunday.