The Cleveland Browns entered Huntington Bank Field on Saturday to host the LA Rams for their preseason finale. Shedeur Sanders knew it was his final chance to prove he belonged on the roster. Although he might have wanted to repeat his performance from the first preseason win against the Carolina Panthers, things went sideways for the rookie out of Colorado. He went into the field in the third quarter with Cleveland leading 7-16. After a short pass to TE Sal Cannella for 6 yards, he was sacked in the next possession while trying a step-back pass. But that was just the beginning of his nightmare.

Sanders combined for 3 of 6 completions for 14 yards without any points. But in 6 attempts, he also got sacked 5 times by either choosing to hold the ball for too long or retreat. He was visibly losing sight of the field. And so, with 2:03 minutes left on the clock and the Rams taking a 17-16 lead with a touchdown, HC Kevin Stefanski made a decision: he pulled Sanders out in favor of Tyler Huntley. Andre Szmyt’s last-second 37-yard field goal pushed the hosts for a win, but on the sidelines, Sanders saw his chance slip away. However, what happened after Stefanski pulled him out shows that the team hasn’t given up on the rookie yet.

For his tactical decision, Stefanski only said, “Obviously, we didn’t play great as an offense in the second half. That’s never on one person. So we can be better in a bunch of areas and just felt like we wanted to give Snoop (Tyler Huntley) a last drive.” The disappointment of leaving the job unfinished was visible on Sanders’ face as he covered himself with a towel. Receiver DeAndre Carter put his hands on Sanders’ shoulders to console him with some talk.

Tony Brown, who entered the field alongside the rookie QB, followed him down the sideline to show his support. Quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave also talked to Sanders, making sure he was doing okay. After his 24-yard sack, Sanders knelt on the sidelines to regain his focus. Then, guard Wyatt Teller, too, asked him to get back up and not lose his composure.

On Saturday, Sanders entered the game after missing three crucial practices and the second preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to his oblique muscle strain. He has also only practiced with the third or fourth teams so far. From the locker room, the message was clear: We’ve got you. But for Sanders, his performance was not enough.

Shedeur Sanders walked on the sidelines to clear his head before returning to Stefanski to ask for another chance. Talking about the moment he was called out, he said, “I didn’t know I was out. Yeah, I didn’t know. I was on a bike. I was powering up. I was powering up for that two minute drive because that’s just a situation every quarterback dreams for. That’s many situations I’ve been in before and I thought I was in, so then he told me I wasn’t in and I was like, ‘OK.’

“Of course that’s the quarterback’s dream and that’s what every quarterback thrives towards those moments. So it wasn’t me, but I was happy that Huntley got in and he handled the business. So if anybody else would do it, it’d be him.”

Snoop delivered exactly what was needed. In six plays, he calmly and confidently drove the Browns 46 yards to set up Andre Szmyt’s 37-yard game-winning field goal as the clock expired. His poise under pressure contrasted sharply with Sanders’ earlier struggles and justified Stefanski’s decision. The win kept Huntley in the mix for the backup QB role alongside Joe Flacco as the regular season looms. Stenfanski, however, did not give much thought to the decision after the win.

He said, “With all of our players, there’s things that we can do better and there’s some good moments out there. But that’s our job as coaches to develop our guys. (Sanders) is a competitive kid. The plan was to go with Snoop there. But I wouldn’t make any more of it than that.” While not happy with his preseason finale work, Sanders is choosing to look at the bright side.

Shedeur Sanders shows hope after the preseason finale flop

Despite not giving the Cleveland fans the same excitement as his 14/23 completion for 138 yards and 2 TDs performance did, Sanders doesn’t believe it’s his time to return to the chalkboard yet. Taking the lesson on his chin and choosing to look at the positives, he said, “Truthfully, it happens when you want to make big plays and you want to get a spark in the offense and that’s all it was, getting in those ways.

“You just want to make a spark. You just want to make something happen and it’s good and it’s bad. If one of those ended up the other way and we score, nobody would say anything negative about it. So it comes with the game, it comes with the style of play, but it’s something I try to minimize at most.

“I’ve got to watch the film, honestly,” Sanders said. “I can’t say what it was. Definitely different places where I could get my eyes in better spots and got through the progressions quicker and regardless to anything. So all those sack stuff, they definitely on me.”

For now, Sanders will return to practice with the first team defense and learn how to be quicker to be ready at the NFL level. Till then, Joe Flacco remains the QB1, and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel remains the backup until Kenny Pickett is back from nursing his hamstring for week-1 against the Cincinnati Bengals.