After Deshaun Watson’s mixed performance against Chicago, Shedeur Sanders prepares to start against Buffalo as the Cleveland Browns QB mystery approaches its climax.
Todd Monken's preseason plans for his ongoing quarterback competition are full steam ahead.
Saturday's 34-10 preseason loss to the Chicago Bears was Deshaun Watson's day to run with the first team in a game setting. Shedeur Sanders' opportunity will come next Saturday when the Cleveland Browns host the Buffalo Bills.
Monken revealed and restated his plans for a pivotal week ahead for the two signal callers, including an invaluable joint practice with the Buffalo Bills on Thursday.
"The plan was always to get through the Bills game, switch up who was gonna start, who was gonna play in the second half, and then we'll go from there," Monken said afterward. "When we practice against Buffalo we will give both of the quarterbacks opportunities with the ones. Shedeur will start against the Bills. Deshaun will play the third quarter; Dillon Gabriel will play the fourth."
It's the exact opposite of how things played out against Chicago, where Watson spent the first two series with the entire first-team offense, then stayed on for the rest of the first half with four-fifths of the second offensive line and an assortment of first-team skill position players.
Watson made the most of the opportunity, completing 11-of-15 passes for 126 yards, while leading the Browns' only two scoring drives of the game. It wasn't all good, though, either. There was a strip sack that led to the Bears' first touchdown of the game – that was more on Austin Barber. There was a horrid two-minute drive that lasted all of 28 seconds to end the first half. His 4.4 air yards per attempt won't exactly inspire much confidence.
At the very least, he showed some signs of life that a competent quarterback might still exist in that battered, beaten and surgically repaired body.
"What I wanted to see, was how comfortable he was leading up to the game. How comfortable he was in the huddle," Monken said of his expectations for Watson. "Certainly, there were things, from an operational standpoint we can do better, but I wanted to see him enjoying himself. Was it still fun for him to play through the ups and the down ... It was fun watching him play."
Watson's efforts paved the way for Sanders to take over in the third quarter. He showed some promise in his own right. He was 6-for-11 for 79 yards with a brutal interception. Despite the blemish, Sanders showed off his revamped pocket poise on a number of occasions.
Sanders will be under a much larger spotlight next week when he gets to run with the first team against Buffalo.
In the meantime, a critical week awaits both QBs as an answer to Cleveland's QB1 conundrum is expected to reveal itself.
