Shedeur Sanders stated he's assured he'll make the Cleveland Browns' 53-man roster regardless of struggling in Saturday's preseason sport, including that he ultimately desires to “be a participant to have the ability to change a franchise.”
Sanders began the second half Saturday in opposition to the Los Angeles Rams, finishing simply 3 of 6 passes for 14 yards. The rookie quarterback was sacked 5 instances and led the Browns to just one first down in his 5 collection below heart.
However when requested whether or not he thinks he'll make the Browns' 53-man roster, Sanders was clear in his response: “Clearly.”
“I feel, general as a participant, I've put within the work,” Sanders stated after Saturday's 19-17 victory. “I really feel like every thing I do, I attempt to do it to my finest, and that is all I can ask for.
“I really feel like everyone looks like they need to be on the crew. If you happen to ask anyone on the crew, would they really feel like they belong — they belong in their very own eyes. I really feel like I do, however I am my very own participant. I take into consideration myself in a excessive regard, in fact. It isn't my resolution.”
A fifth-round choose on this 12 months's NFL draft, Sanders has been a part of a crowded quarterback room with the Browns, who even have veterans Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Tyler Huntley and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel on their preseason roster.
The NFL's deadline for groups to chop down their rosters to 53 gamers is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, however common supervisor Andrew Berry indicated earlier Saturday that holding as many as 4 quarterbacks is “not a lot of a choice.”
“We now have a room that we like all the fellows in there,” Berry instructed NFL Community. “We do not actually see that as an issue. We extra see it as a possibility.”
Sanders was excellent earlier this month within the preseason opener and was sidelined for the Browns' second preseason sport final weekend due to an indirect damage. The previous Colorado star had a a lot rougher outing Saturday and was visibly pissed off on the sideline after being changed late within the fourth quarter by Huntley, who orchestrated Cleveland's game-winning area aim drive.
“Within the warmth of the battle, you wish to be that alpha,” Sanders stated. “You wish to be that canine. You wish to be on the market in that ultimate two-minute drive. So in fact, small issues, in fact frustrate, however that is what occurs whenever you wish to be a participant to have the ability to change a franchise.”
“That is a part of being a rookie,” Flacco stated. “You are going to get thrown into conditions that possibly you do not suppose are perfect. … It is a part of the sport — a part of what makes a soccer participant is studying how one can cope with these conditions and studying from them. So hear, we have all been there. It is a part of the sport.”
Sanders thought he was going to have the reins for the ultimate drive after Los Angeles' Jordan Waters scored on a 2-yard run with 2:08 remaining. However Browns coach Kevin Stefanski instructed Sanders he was going with Huntley.
“It wasn't my resolution,” Sanders stated. “After all, that is each quarterback's dream and that is what each quarterback thrives for — these moments — so it wasn't me.
“I used to be blissful that Huntley acquired in, and he dealt with his enterprise. If anyone else would do it, it will be him.”
Sanders confronted 4 blitzes, in accordance with NFL Subsequent Gen Stats, and was sacked on three of these performs. Gabriel, in the meantime, confronted just one blitz and was not sacked, finishing 11 of 17 passes for 129 yards.
Sanders stated one of many causes he took so many sacks is he needed “to get a spark within the offense” and “make large performs.”
“You simply wish to make a spark,” he stated. “You simply wish to make one thing occur, and it is good and it is dangerous. If a type of [sacks] ended up the opposite means and we rating, no one would say something damaging about it.”
Whereas Stefanski wasn't pleased with Sanders' play — together with taking a 24-yard sack early within the fourth quarter when he stored scrambling backward as a substitute of throwing the ball away — he wasn't able to put all of the blame on the rookie.
“We did not play nice as an offense within the second half. That is by no means on one individual,” Stefanski stated. “We might be higher in a bunch of areas and simply felt like we needed to offer Snoop [Huntley] a final drive.”
The Browns on Monday named Flacco their beginning quarterback for Week 1, and Stefanski declined to call a backup on the time. Cleveland's newest unofficial depth chart lists Pickett because the backup and Gabriel and Sanders as third- and fourth-string quarterbacks, respectively.
ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi, ESPN Analysis and The Related Press contributed to this report.
