Browns' Shedeur Sanders gets sage advice, tough love from one-time Super Bowl MVP: 'Nobody cares'

Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is scheduled to make the first start of his pro career when the 2-8 Browns face the 2-8 Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium this Sunday. 

Sanders endured what he referred to as a "rough" regular-season debut during Cleveland's 23-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 16. For a piece published Thursday, one-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player and current Washington Commanders senior adviser Doug Williams spoke with Jason Reid of Andscape about how Sanders can produce a bounce-back performance against the Raiders. 

Shedeur Sanders must put poor debut behind him

"He’s getting all the [first-team] reps, so just get prepared to go out and play the best football that you can," Williams said about Sanders. "He has to look at it like, 'We’re going forward. We’re not going backward.' What has happened in the past has happened — but there’s nothing you can do about that. In this league, you always have to move on." 

Sanders completed 4-of-16 passes for 47 yards with no touchdowns, one interception and two sacks taken against the Ravens after Cleveland QB1 Dillon Gabriel suffered a concussion. To make matters worse, Sanders was also the victim of a home burglary this past Sunday. 

Williams noted that the Raiders won't be feeling sorry for Sanders ahead of Thanksgiving. 

"Nobody cares about the situation you’re in, whether you’ve got all the right guys around you, whether [your team] has a lot of injuries, or if you’re a good guy or not — we need touchdowns," Williams directly said. "At that position, all that anyone really cares about is whether you’re out there doing your part to help us get touchdowns. It’s about winning. That’s it." 

Doug Williams addresses Shedeur Sanders not receiving first-team practice reps

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has received criticism for reserving first-team practice reps for Gabriel until this week. Williams suggested some outsiders made far too much of that potential storyline. 

"I can’t remember a backup quarterback ever getting any reps with those guys [starters]. That just doesn’t happen," Williams explained. "Everyone upset about … it doesn’t work like that. I mean, what you have to do, if you’re in that situation as a backup, is you just get all of the mental reps that you can each day. You gotta sit back there and just watch the guy who’s getting the reps on the field. You look at what he’s doing. You see how he reacts to the defense, how the defense reacts to him, and you learn." 

As of Thursday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Sanders-led Browns as four-point underdogs for this Sunday's clash.