Rookie sensation Shedeur Sanders got his first look at live NFL regular season action on Sunday, and it didn’t end up going super well.
After Browns‘ starter Dillon Gabriel exited the team’s game against the Ravens due to a concussion, leaving the fifth-round 2025 NFL Draft selection to make his NFL debut. As Sanders made his way onto the field in front of a home crowd at Huntington Bank Stadium, the fans erupted for the young gunslinger getting his first show for the franchise. Things went downhill quickly from there.
Shedeur Sanders entering the game:
pic.twitter.com/qnDgpv6Ny2— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 16, 2025
Sanders entered the game with the Browns up 16-10, but he proceeded to struggle to keep the Browns in the lead – or to do much of anything offensively, really. Sanders went an abysmal 4-of-16 passing for 47 yards with one interception and zero touchdowns, and the Browns ended up falling in a 23-16 loss to Baltimore. It went about as poorly as an NFL debut could go for a rookie quarterback, and Sanders acknowledged his poor play following the contest.
“I don’t think I played good. I don’t think I played good at all,” Sanders said. “I think there’s a lot of things we need to look at during the week and go and get comfortable even throwing routes with Jerry [Jeudy], throwing routes to all those guys. I think that was my first ball thrown to him all year.”
Shedeur Sanders’ regular-season debut:
• 4/16
• 47 passing yards
• 0 TDs
• 1 INT
• 13.5 passer rating pic.twitter.com/3N9adgsfaZ— 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 (@CASAMANYWORLD) November 17, 2025
It was a tough debut for the young signal caller, who is more used to success than failure as a former Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. But with Gabriel dealing with concussion issues, there’s a strong chance Sanders will see more action for the Browns, so he’ll have to begin to make the adjustment to the next level quickly.
“Losing isn’t something I am comfortable with, at all,” he said. “So, I just gotta take this one, I gotta decompress, I gotta understand that this really happened on my watch. I don’t like the feeling. I know I can take things to a different level. I just gotta take this one and build on it.”
This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Browns’ Shedeur Sanders on NFL debut: “I don’t think I played good.”
