Shedeur Sanders will have better days ahead in his NFL career. He'll always remember his NFL debut, though he'd probably love to forget it.
The former Colorado star made his long-awaited debut on Sunday for the Cleveland Browns, coming in at the beginning of the third quarter with Dillon Gabriel being knocked out of the game with a head injury.
The Ravens sent consistent pressure, and Sanders was overwhelmed by it. After completing his first two passes for 12 yards, he completed just two of his final 14 passes to finish 4-of-16. He took multiple sacks and threw a pretty bad interception on his second drive.
To his credit, Sanders did lead a drive at the end of the game with the Browns down 23-16 to put them in position to potentially tie the game. He completed a couple of big passes on the drive and got the ball all the way down to the Baltimore 25. He gave his receiver a shot on a ball in the endzone that he couldn't quite corral that could have tied the game.
Detractors of Sanders will use his numbers to mock him. They aren't good. He's certainly disappointed with it. But judging him on his first NFL appearance - one he was not given much, if any, first-team reps to prepare for - wouldn't be fair. The haters aren't interested in fairness, though.
Shedeur Sanders will look like a different QB next week if he starts
Dillon Gabriel's status isn't yet known. The TV broadcast said he was being evaluated for a concussion. They never confirmed that it was a concussion, but he was ultimately ruled out from a potential return.
If he can't go next week, Sanders would be in line to make his first NFL start against the Raiders in Las Vegas. If he does, he'll look like a different QB.
More important than starting is the number of reps Sanders would get in practice. He'll get prepared like the starting QB for the Browns, instead of taking mostly 2nd-team reps in a game that he never expected to play in.
Next week, assuming he starts, will give us a better idea of Sanders' potential. It would be a real opportunity for him, one that he very well could take advantage of to put himself in a position not to give the job back.