Shedeur Sanders updates: Browns QB to make third start against Titans in Week 14

Despite the Cleveland Browns scoring just one touchdown in a 26-8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, quarterback Shedeur Sanders will get another look as the starter next week against the Tennessee Titans. Coach Kevin Stefanski declined to comment on whether he locked up the role for good or if he remains in a week-to-week competition with Dillon Gabriel.

The announcement came after an ESPN report stated the Browns are open to giving Sanders an “extended look” in the starting job. They previously gave Gabriel a six-game opportunity, but after he suffered a concussion in the last of those starts, he ceded the job to his fellow rookie.

Sanders made his second career start in the loss to the 49ers and completed 16 of 25 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. He also ran once for a 6-yard gain.

“He’s battling like all of our guys are battling,” Stefanski said of Sanders. “I know there’s plays he wants back, but we’ll look at it and we’ll correct it.”

Although it came in a losing effort, Sanders at times looked more comfortable running the offense than in his previous two outings. He was more accurate than in his starting debut against the Las Vegas Raiders when he went just 11 for 20, and he was dramatically more effective than his 4-for-16 relief appearance against the Baltimore Ravens.

“Obviously we lost, so I ain’t play well,” Sanders said. “It’s definitely things on film I’m gonna look back and want to get back and want to see, but at least moving forward I know what we could do differently going about the week and being able to get fully prepared for every possibility.”

Sanders, Cam Ward set for rookie duel

It will be a rookie-versus-rookie battle next week when the Browns host the Titans’ No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. Tennessee (1-11)  heads to Cleveland (3-9) on the heels of another blowout loss, this time a 25-3 defeat at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Sanders and Ward were often compared in the pre-draft process as first-round prospects. Ward lived up to expectations when he came off the board at No. 1, but Sanders experienced one of the most dramatic draft slides in recent memory when he slipped all the way to the fifth round. Neither found much success in the early going of their NFL careers.

One of the quarterbacks will earn his second win of the year. A victory would give Sanders a winning record as a starter, while Ward is already in a much deeper hole with his larger sample size of 12 starts. If Sanders improves to 2-1 in his role, he could strengthen his grip on the job and distance himself from Gabriel, who logged just one win in his six opportunities atop the depth chart.

“In the midst of everything that’s going on — wins, losses, anything — I remember when I wasn’t playing,” Sanders said. “So I never forget that feeling. I try my best to not let that happen again, for me to be in that position.”