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Shedeur Sanders talked about the sobering reality of playing in the NFL as he led the Cleveland Browns to a victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in his first-career start on Sunday.
Sanders’ performance wasn’t the prettiest. He was 11-of-20 with 209 passing yards, a touchdown pass and an interception. He had a nice 54-yard completion to Isaiah Bond and then threw a dump off to Dylan Sampson, who ran it for a 66-yard touchdown.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders throws the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 23, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
The rookie quarterback said he was grateful for the opportunity, but understood that the lack of reps with the first-team offense wasn’t an excuse for completing only 55% of his passes and ending the game with an 87.3 passer rating.
“Everybody starts different places. Like I said, just because I didn’t get the summer reps just because I wasn’t in the best situation for me to be prepared to go out there and execute from a summer standpoint – that’s how life is,” he said. “Everybody’s not in the best situation. But it’s no excuse. Gotta go out there and perform. There’s no choice. There’s no question.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders talks to head coach Kevin Stefanski during the Las Vegas Raiders game at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 23, 2025. (Stephen R. Sylvanie/Imagn Images)
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“Nobody cares if this was one week of prep. Who cares? So, a lot of people want to see me fail – it ain’t gonna happen. It ain’t gonna happen.”
Sanders started in place of Dillon Gabriel, who was out with a concussion. He called it surreal to be able to go out and perform for the Browns after being a fifth-round pick back in the spring.
He vowed to correct some of the smaller mistakes as time goes on.
“It’s only one way, and the only way is up,” he said.
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With the win, Sanders became the first Browns rookie quarterback to win his first NFL start since Eric Zeier in 1995. Zeier was a third-round pick of Georgia. He made his first start on Oct. 29, 1995, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in overtime. The Browns finished 5-11 that year and moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens in 1996.
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