Steelers Now
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was noncommittal on Wednesday on whether rookie Shedeur Sanders or practice squad quarterback Bailey Zappe would be the team’s backup quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“All roster type of things, I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development,” Stefanski said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. “And I want to make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players and, of course, our team. But with young players, I’m always thinking about — last week, making the change to Dillon, you have to think long and hard about that, because these are young players that you are so invested in their development. So, I’ll let the decision play out [and] make a decision later.”
When asked if Sanders and Zappe would split some first-team reps this week, Stefanski said, “Need to work through it all. Again, really like the guys we have. We just got to work through all it.”
The Browns traded quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday.
Flacco, who won the Browns starting quarterback job this offseason in a four-way competition, had been benched for third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel in Week 5. Gabriel made his first career start in the Browns’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
“He was definitely somebody I leaned on for wisdom, and I feel he helped me a lot,” Sanders told FOX 8 in Cleveland when asked about the Flacco trade. “He helped me a lot in my time being here in Cleveland and his time being here in Cleveland. Everybody has their own destinies and have their own plans…I’m just happy for him.”
Under head coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers have dominated teams starting rookie quarterbacks. Since Tomlin became head coach, the Steelers are an incredible 26-6 against rookie quarterbacks.
However, of those six losses under Tomlin, the Browns account for two of them. Most recently, and the last time they lost to a rookie, the Browns defeated the Steelers in 2023 with Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The other loss was in 2012 to Brandon Weeden. Both games were in Cleveland.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Browns HC Not Ready to Name Shedeur Sanders as Backup QB vs. Steelers
