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Browns Coach Announces Big Shedeur Sanders Development on Wednesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Max Escarpio | Last updated Oct 22, 2025 11:48 AM ET

The Cleveland Browns shook up their quarterback room on Oct. 7, trading Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Flacco was the team's starter from training camp all the way through the first four weeks of the NFL season.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski made the decision to turn to third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings. Gabriel has been the starter since.

Gabriel was the backup to Flacco early on, with fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders as the emergency third-string quarterback.

Now that Gabriel is the starter, Sanders, as the second-stringer, has not received any first-team reps. Meanwhile, when Gabriel was the backup to Flacco, he was mixed in with the first team on occasion.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) after the game against the Baltimore Ravens.Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Stefanski was asked about it Wednesday and offered the reason why Sanders has been strictly getting second-team reps.

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

Browns HC Kevin Stefanski said that rookie QB Shedeur Sanders hasn't been getting practice reps with the first-team offense like Dillon Gabriel did when Joe Flacco was the starter because "with a young quarterback, with Dillon starting, you want to make sure he gets a lot of the…
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) October 22, 2025