BroBible
Shedeur Sanders was the Cleveland Browns‘ third option under center during their final preseason contest. He was not given the opportunity to finish out the matchup with the game on the line.
Instead, the coaching staff turned to Tyler Huntley, who successfully led a two-minute drive to secure the win. The decision led to immediate criticism from viewers.
Sanders has been under the spotlight this offseason as his rookie year approaches. He’s currently competing in a Cleveland quarterback room alongside Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Garbriel, and Huntley.
He shined in his preseason debut, picking up a win over the Panthers in his first start. He struggled, however, in Game 2.
The passer played five series in the second half of a meeting with the Rams. He completed just 50% of his attempts for 14 yards. Sanders was sacked five times and secured just one first down.
Los Angeles took a 17-16 lead with just over two minutes left in the action. Most believed Sanders would get the chance to lead a winning drive. Stefanski decided otherwise.
The coach went with Huntley to lead the offense. He completed his only pass and guided the offense to a game-winning field goal.
Sanders was outplayed by his counterparts. Gabriel threw for 129 yards and a score on 12-19 passing. Flacco completed 9-of-10 attempts and had a touchdown pass.
Sanders was the only quarterback unable to lead the offense to a scoring drive. Stefanski spoke on the decision to bench his rookie in a crucial moment.
Breaking: Kevin Stefanski confirms Shedeur Sanders was healthy — but chose not to let him run the two-minute offense to close the game. Instead, he bizarrely went with Snoop Huntley, who won’t even be on the 53-man roster after Tuesday. If you needed proof of what Stefanski… pic.twitter.com/Wlljb4Epbb
— Ossacin’s Ducktail (@OssacinDucktail) August 23, 2025
A pair of former NFL passers were dumbfounded by the decision. Derek Carr posted a message on X immediately after the game.
I need to understand why we don’t get to see Shedeur Sanders run this 2 minute drill? Wouldn’t you want to see your young QB operate in this situation? Get him more reps for the future? I didn’t see the whole game so maybe he already showed enough? Help me understand this…
The opinion was shared by a number of viewers. Some speculated that the move was made to keep Sanders healthy after being harassed by the Los Angeles defense throughout the afternoon.
Stefanski confirmed that he was not injured, be there is a possibility the coach was being cautious.
Kurt Warner questioned the benching, too.
*I was really looking forward to the competition between Dillon Gabriel & Shedeur Sanders in last preseason game, I know it plays out like this sometimes, but a bummer that both didn’t have the same opps to make plays! DG...
