The Browns managed to wrap up the season with a rarity, a two-game winning streak that featured a big victory at home over the Steelers, who needed the win to earn a player spot, in Week 17, followed by a 20-18 Week 18 upset of the Bengals on the road. The game brought quarterback Shedeur Sanders to 3-4 on the season, but probably was not quite enough to tamp down the rumors that have surrounded the job security of embattled coach Kevin Stefanski over the past month.
Sanders was far from perfect in the game, but as has been the case throughout the season, he has shown enough of a knack for making big plays to at least give his team a chance to be competitive, which they rarely were in the first 10 weeks of the year.
Sanders was 11-for-22 passing for 111 yards on the afternoon, with a rating of just 64.8. Like Stefanski, his job security with the Browns remains very much a question mark.
Kevin Stefanski ‘Has Been Tough’ as Browns Coach
Sanders was asked after the Browns win how he feels about the job Stefanski has done this year, as he shuffled through two quarterbacks to start the year–Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel–before finally giving Sanders, the team’s fifth-round pick, a chance at the job.
Sanders has never been gung-ho in his support of Stefanski, but the two seem to have formed a stronger bond as the year went on.
“I think just Coach Kev, he’s been real tough, he’s been tough,” Sanders said. “And it’s good. I grew. I learned a lot from him. This week we had a conversation, just about things—about things in general and I feel like, we grew to understand each other. We shared different things that we go through.
“I know he wanted this win. I know he wants every win but I know this one means a lot. I wish we all, as a team, I wish everybody could have gotten more personal, you know, within this last year.”
GettyBrowns reportedly make decision on Kevin Stefanski.
Shedeur Sanders Bonded With Fellow Browns Rookies
The win will at least send the Browns off on a good note, and no matter whether they come back with Kevin Stefanski at head coach and Shedeur Sanders at quarterback–or if they get rid of both–there are clearly some building blocks in place.
That’s especially true of the strong Browns rookie class. After the game, Sanders was reflective on his experiences this season, and the rookies in general.
“I learned what I like and I learned what I don’t like. I learned what I see well and what I don’t see well. And I learned a lot mentally, emotionally, physically, everything. I think mentally it was how to deal with, when things aren’t going your way, how to deal with feelings. That’s what I feel like this year was about. How are you gonna deal with feelings? You can be not playing and feel some type of way, you can be playing and feel the same way. …
“You gotta create your own reality in everything, and you gotta have the nucleus of people around—and it’s not just your family, it’s gotta be outside. So I think that’s what this rookie class, and that’s what everything is. Being able to lean on each other.”
Browns Shedeur Sanders Reveals Thoughts on Kevin Stefanski Amid Rumors