The Cleveland Browns are no longer determining their quarterback outlook on a week-by-week basis.
‘He has constantly and consistently gotten better in each one of these games and how he’s approached this game,’ Stefanski said of Sanders. ‘He’s been working very hard. So I feel good about where his development is heading. He knows there are always plays where he can be better and those type of things. But he’s very intentional about getting better each and every game he’s out there.’
The decision comes one day after Sanders threw for 364 yards and totaled four touchdowns in a 31-29 loss to the Tennessee Titans. In the fifth-round pick’s third start, he became the only rookie quarterback other than Joe Burrow to record at least 350 passing yards, three touchdown passes and a rushing score in a game in the Super Bowl era.
His third-quarter interception that led to the Titans’ go-ahead score loomed large in the contest, which ended on a sour note for Cleveland when a botched two-point conversion attempt – which Sanders was not on the field for – ended the team’s comeback bid.
‘He fought throughout the game, which we knew he would,’ Stefanski said on Sunday of Sanders’ performance. ‘Obviously with any young player, there’s going to be ups and downs, and I though there were some really, really, really good moments. He’ll keep learning from some of the plays he wants back, but (there were) some really good moments.’
Stefanski had previously not committed to starting Sanders for the remainder of the regular season. The Browns first turned to the quarterback when fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel landed in the concussion protocol after exiting a Week 11 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Stefanski at first said that Gabriel would reclaim his starting role once healthy but reversed course after the Browns won in Sanders’ first start against the Las Vegas Raiders.