To raucous cheers from the home crowd, Shedeur Sanders replaced an injured Dillon Gabriel to begin the second half for the Cleveland Browns against the Baltimore Ravens.
On his first NFL possession, Sanders got his "Welcome to the NFL" moment.
Sanders completed his first two passes for 12 yards, but on a 3rd-and-8, Sanders faced an all-out blitz by the Ravens, and star safety Kyle Hamilton came downhill and sacked Sanders for a big loss. The ball popped out, but the Browns were able to dive on the football.
Hamilton rubbed salt in Sanders' wound by doing his trademark celebration:
Shedeur Sanders sacked, and the Ravens have a little fun with his celly 😅 pic.twitter.com/MXGbuMR9XE
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) November 16, 2025
Kyle Hamilton and the Ravens mock Shedeur Sanders with his signature celebration
This has been the debut that Browns fans - and Colorado fans - have been waiting for. If you were hoping for a storybook opening drive, well, that's just not what typically happens in the NFL.
Cleveland is still a bad offense, regardless of who is playing QB. They are going to frequently blow protections and make life difficult for any QB, especially a rookie like Sanders or Gabriel.
It remains to be seen if Sanders will continue for the remainder of the game. Gabriel took a shot late in the first half and was still in the locker room at the beginning of the third quarter as he was being evaluated for a concussion.
UPDATE: Gabriel has been ruled out for the rest of the game.
This is the opportunity Sanders has been craving all season. He has quietly put the work in behind the scenes, working his way up from QB4 in training camp to QB2 now. Gabriel hasn't exactly set the world on fire as the team's starter, so a strong performance by Sanders in relief could swing the pendulum in favor of the rookie out of Colorado.
He has the talent, but adjusting to the game speed in the NFL isn't easy for anyone. Sanders saw that on just his third drop back of his career. He might have gotten away with pulling the ball down on a blitz like that at Colorado, but that won't work in the NFL,
You have to make quicker decisions and just get rid of the football to protect yourself and avoid potential turnovers.
It's a learning experience for Sanders. One he won't forget.