Shedeur Sanders 'understands the long game' of Todd Monken's QB decision
· Yahoo Sports
BEREA ― Shedeur Sanders is back in a familiar spot with the Browns. Yet again, the second-year quarterback is going to have to bide his team on the bench waiting for a chance.
Sanders was passed over by coach Todd Monken for Deshaun Watson in the battle to be the the Browns' opening-day starting quarterback in Jacksonville Sept. 13. The son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders will instead by the team's backup quarterback when the regular season gets underway.
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"There’s a number of things I’m not going to get into, but ultimately, we felt over the course of training camp and the offseason that he was ahead of Shedeur," Monken said Aug. 24. "Shedeur has closed that gap, for sure, and that’s a credit to him, and we look forward to Shedeur continuing to grow as a player. But ultimately, we’re about Week 1. That’s all it’s about; Week 1, putting our best foot forward over the next three weeks."
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Monken met with both quarterbacks in the morning to discuss the decision. There was no official announcement to the team.
Obviously, to tell someone they're not going to be the starting quarterback is a difficult conversation. However, Monken said the conversation was very positive.
"He was awesome," Monken said. "I mean, you talk about somebody that really understands the long game. … We met this morning for a good long time, and all he had was a smile on his face because he understands what’s really in front of him, not really a short-term, more of a long-term decision. I mean, this is a player who’s going to work his butt off to get better, and he already has.”
Sanders had his final opportunity to make an impression in the preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills Aug. 22. He started and completed 9-of-11 passes for 74 yards with an interception and an 87.1 passer rating over two full quarters.
That came after an entire offseason and training camp of alternating days with Watson running the No. 1 offense, while the two split those reps in the Aug. 20 joint practice against the Bills. He also played the third quarter of the preseason opener at Chicago, going 6-of-11 for 79 yards with an interception and a 39.6 passer rating.
Sanders wasn't made available to the media after Monken's announcement. However, he talked about his mindset after the Buffalo game and the work he's put on film
“I wake up and feel the same, honestly," Sanders said Aug. 22. "I think if you do things based on the situation you’re in and you’re not doing everything to your max ― you’re not giving your all, that’s on you. I don’t just want to be the starter … now I’ve got to lock in a little more .… We put in the work, we did everything we could. And I don’t live with regrets. Anything I’ve done, that’s just who I am. I don’t live with regrets. So, I sleep better at night knowing I did everything I can, and however things fall, they fall.”
Sanders started the final seven games for the Browns as a rookie in 2025. He completed 56.6% of his passes for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions, a 68.1 passer rating and 23 sacks, while being added to the AFC Pro Bowl roster as an alternate the week of the game.
The former fifth-round pick out of the University of Colorado started that offseason as the No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart. However, he climbed all the way up to the No. 2 spot when Cleveland traded Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals in early October after Dillon Gabriel took over as the starter in Week 5.
The question of when Sanders might get his chance were a weekly occurence in his rookie season, right up to the moment he did take over after Gabriel left a Week 11 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Monken, though, insists this decision is not something that's going to continually be revisited.
“No, we’re not anticipating this being a week-to-week thing," Monken said. "Again, I think Shedeur (Sanders) has done a great job, come a long ways, and we’re excited about his future, but this is not a week-to-week decision.”
One thing that became a subject of much analysis during Sanders' time below the No. 1 line of the depth chart was the amount of reps he was getting in practice, specifically running with the No. 1 offense. While the amount he was getting was in line with what other backups, or third-stringers while he was in that spot, would get around the league.
Sanders will still have an ample number of reps in practice in general, albeit not with the No. 1s, over the next week and a half. However, Monken acknowledges there's going to come a moment where the practice reps, at least running the Browns' offense, dry up a bit.
"The hardest part, you’re exactly right, is once we get into game week, Deshaun takes all the ones," Monken said. "So, he’s going to have to do a great job with individual, film study, and then when he gets opportunities to go against the defense, again, people run a lot of the same concepts, right? … So how are you going to play that out in your mind? What is that on the card that is exactly what we do and then process it and play it out like it’s a real practice.”
The biggest thing Monken wants Sanders to understand is that the decision isn't a dead end to his career. It's more of hitting the pause button.
That's something, however, that hasn't been an issue for Monken as he's gotten to know Sanders.
"That really, I think, has come to understand the long game," Monken said. "What are we really in this for? What am I in it for? To have the Browns be an organization that people aspire to be, right? The long game, right? Where do we want to be in the long term? He understands that as well as a quarterback. Where he was at, where he’s at now, where he wants to get to. That is what’s so awesome about Shedeur understanding that. Really, he does."
Chris Easterling can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Shedeur Sanders 'understands the long game' of Todd Monken's QB decision
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