With just over two minutes left to play during Saturday’s preseason game between the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams, Shedeur Sanders thought he was going to get a chance to lead a game-winning drive, but instead, he got sent to the bench.
With Cleveland trailing 17-16 and just 2:03 left to play, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski made the decision to take out his rookie quarterback in favor of Tyler Huntley, who just signed with the team less than three weeks ago.
If Sanders would have stayed in the game, it would have given him a prime opportunity to lead a potential game-winning drive in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, but instead, he had to watch as Huntley led the Browns to a game-winning field goal that gave Cleveland a 19-17 victory. Following the game, Sanders said he was surprised to learn that he was being pulled.
“I didn’t know I was out,” Sanders said after the game. “Yeah, I didn’t know. I was on a bike, I was powering up. I was powering up for that two minute drive because that’s just a situation every quarterback dreams for. That’s many situations I’ve been in before, and I thought I was in, so then he told me I wasn’t in and I was like, ‘OK.'”
After he was told that he was being taken out, Sanders actually went up to Stefanski and requested to stay in the game.
“Yeah, I definitely did,” Sanders said about whether he asked to keep playing.
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Bryan DeArdo
Sanders was so sure that he was going to go back into the game that he actually asked a teammate to grab his helmet, which you can see in the final seconds of the clip below.
When he got benched, Sanders wasn’t happy with the decision and he didn’t try to hide his emotions on the sideline.
After the game, Sanders was asked if he regretted showing so much emotion.
“No, in the heart of competition, that’s what you ask for,” Sanders said, via Cleveland.com. “In the heat of the battle, you want to be that alpha. You want to be that dog. You want to be out there in that final two minute drive. So of course, small things, of course frustrate, but that’s what happens when you want to be a player to be able to change a franchise.”
During his time on the field in the second half, Sanders went just 3 of 6 for 14 yards. He was also sacked five times, losing a total of 41 yards. Sanders’ struggles may have played at least a small part in Stefanski’s decision to pull him.
Following the win, Stefanski was asked why he didn’t let Sanders run the two-minute drill.
“Obviously we didn’t play great as an offense in the second half,” Stefanski said when asked about the benching. “That’s never on one person, so we can be better in a bunch of areas and just felt like we wanted to give [Huntley] a last drive.”
The Browns’ coach was also asked his thoughts on Sanders getting emotional and requesting to stay in the game.
“He’s a competitive kid,” Stefanski said. “The plan was to go with [Huntley] there, but I wouldn’t make any more of it than that.”
Although Huntley did lead the Browns on a game-winning drive, the Rams helped him along. Los Angeles was penalized three times for 25 yards on the 46-yard drive that led to a 37-yard game-winning field goal from Andre Szmyt.
As for Sanders, he was one of four Browns quarterbacks who saw action on Saturday and we broke down their performances here.