BEREA — The first game Shedeur Sanders served as the Browns’ backup quarterback was the first time they faced the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Sanders didn’t get into the game, which was the second one started by fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. So he didn’t have to endure six sacks and at least three times as many pressures in the Steelers’ 23-9 Week 6 win.
The rookie fifth-round pick won’t be the backup as the Steelers make the return trip to Cleveland this week. He’ll be the starter facing Pittsburgh for the first time.
Buy Cleveland Browns tickets
The first week of preparation isn’t irrelevant to Sanders’ preparation this week. However, what he’s done in the last five-and-a-half games is what he’s hanging his hat on more than what he did over those four or five days in October as the Browns game-planned for a game he wasn’t going to be playing in except for a even more worst-case scenario than how it actually played out.
“I would say week by week of getting game play helps me more than that week in particular when we just studied them,” Sanders said. “Because, like I say, every week is a new week and you have to focus on the next opponent. You could look at past notes and things, that’s OK. But I think having a fresh set of eyes is always the best.”
There’s another difference for the Browns besides the starting quarterback. Head coach Kevin Stefanski was still the play caller when they played in Pittsburgh, and now that responsibility has gone to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees since they returned from the bye week in Week 10.
Rees was still heavily involved in the day-to-day work with the entire quarterback room leading into the game. That, he acknowledges, helps with this week’s preparations.
However, there’s a variety of reasons why Week 6 is irrelevant by and large relating not to the Browns, but the Steelers. It goes beyond the question of the availability of Pittsburgh star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who has missed the last two games due to a collapsed lung.
“The Steelers are not the same team as they were the first time we played them,” Rees said Dec. 24. “Schematically, they’re a little bit differently. Personnel wise, they’re a little bit different. Obviously they have some new faces, they have some guys out. So there are some changes, but it certainly helps to know there’s a familiarity with how they play, who their personnel is, how they set their front, the coverage tendencies they have. There’s certainly an advantage there for him to feel comfortable going into an opponent that we’ve prepared for and that we’ve watched film on for a week and that he’s familiar with.”
What Sanders and Rees have watched on film most intently is what the rookie has done over his five starts. The most recent start, in a loss to the Buffalo Bills, may have provided the best all-around display of growth for the young quarterback.
It wasn’t the big-yardage game that the 364-yard performance against the Tennessee Titans was, finishing with 157 yards and just one touchdown. Still, it was some of the little things, like taking what the defense gives the offense, even if it means tucking it and running, that was most pleasing to Rees.
“I think positives wise, we knew coverage-wise how they’d play, there was going to be some opportunities to create with your legs when they’re matching as much as they do and two-high,” Rees said. “I thought he did a really nice job there on a number of occasions. There’s always, with a young quarterback, every new moment he gets is a new learning opportunity. We talk about that. We talked about that on Monday, like situationally at the end of the game and just all those different opportunities to learn and grow from and teach off of to help all these young guys as they continue to go in their careers.”
The next step in Sanders’ career is to build off those five starts going into the final two games of the season. That’s the only thing, as he himself said this week, that he can control.
The future beyond the season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals is cloudy for a whiole lot of people inside the Browns organization beyond just Sanders. That includes Rees, whose 2026 could be spent back in Cleveland or back in the college ranks or in a completely different NFL city.
That’s why the only long-term strategy Rees is focused on with Sanders is what he can control. That means, as with the quarterback, keeping the focus on the here and now.
“Yeah, I just think continue on the right progression that he’s on right now,” Rees said. “Continue to make good decisions, continue to focus on the areas that we’re asking him to do, find ways to move the football, find ways to score points. That’s the quarterback’s job. But to put expectations and put those on him, we’re just looking for good progression and making sure that each week there’s improvement. Each week we’re building upon what we’ve done and again, find ways to score points and move the ball.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Shedeur Sanders building on past as Browns face Steelers for 2nd time
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
