by: Grant Grubbs 6 minutes ago grant_grubbs_
On Tuesday, Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot reported Shedeur Sanders is expected to start in the Cleveland Browns’ first preseason game on Friday. Sanders is currently the fourth QB on the Browns’ depth chart, but fellow Browns quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett are battling injuries.
Browns veteran quarterback Joe Flacco isn’t expected to play in the preseason game, thus leaving the team’s offense in Sanders’ hands. During Thursday’s episode of First Take , Stephen A. Smith questioned the Browns’ decision to shove Sanders into the spotlight when he hasn’t been receiving first-team practice reps.
“He’s being set up to fail,” Smith said. “There’s been 11 practices, if I remember correctly. He’s been playing against the third unit. He’s fourth on the depth chart, and then suddenly you throw him into the starting lineup, and he hasn’t had any reps with the first team at all. Think about that.
“So you just gonna throw him to the wolves like that, huh? I mean, if he had first-team snaps in practice, I don’t say that. But he doesn’t. And then all of a sudden, he’s starting tomorrow night. It’s like you want him to fail. I’m not accusing the coaches of doing this. I’m not accusing the GM of doing this. But that owner, Mr. Haslam, that’s a different animal right there.”