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Shedeur Sanders to start Week 13 against the 49ers

Sanders made first career start in Week 12 win over the Raiders

Nov 24, 2025 at 02:20 PM

Kelsey Russo

Associate Editor & Staff Writer

After leading the Browns to a 24-10 victory over the Raiders in Week 12, QB Shedeur Sanders will earn his second start of the season.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Sanders will start Week 13 when the Browns host the 49ers at Huntington Bank Field. Stefanski said QB Dillon Gabriel has also cleared concussion protocol.

"Obviously, the No. 1 job of the quarterback is to win, so excited to get that first win under his belt," Stefanski said. "And then the next thing is improvement. And that's what young players do, certainly young quarterbacks do you get one game better and that's just from working at it."

In his first start, Sanders completed 11 of 20 passing attempts for 209 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was also sacked once for a loss of three yards.

Sanders put the Browns in position to score over the course of the game and pushed the ball down the field. On their fourth offensive drive of the game, Sanders connected with TE Harold Fannin Jr. to move the Browns downfield on a 17-yard gain. Then, three plays later on a third-and-long, Sanders let a deep pass go to WR Isaiah Bond as he ran down the field and Bond caught the ball for a 52-yard catch. With the Browns deep in the red zone, RB Quinshon Judkins then found the end zone on the next play to give the Browns a 14-0 lead over the Raiders in the first quarter.

Sanders led the Browns on two more scoring drives in the fourth quarter – one ending with a 53-yard field goal by K Andre Szmyt and the other with 66-yard touchdown reception to RB Dylan Sampson.

"First start for any young quarterback, you're always going to make sure the operation is how you want it, and I thought by and large was good," Stefanski said. "There's things that we can clean up, and that goes on all of us as coaches, that's the players, quarterback where we can clean up some of our operation. But I thought communication was really good throughout the day with him. And the big plays down the field, obviously that first one to (Isaiah Bond) was a very high degree of difficulty on that play. Are there things that he can do better? Absolutely, and we've already talked about that with him. He has the mentality that he will make the adjustments to the speed of the game, make the adjustments to what people are giving us to make those improvements."

Sanders saw his first regular-season game action in the second half of Week 11 against the Ravens. He completed 4 of 16 passing attempts for 47 yards and one interception. Sanders was then officially announced the starter for Week 12 on Nov. 19 to have the full week of practice in the starting role.

From stepping onto the field in the second half to his first NFL start, Stefanski said he has seen improvements in Sanders' game – particularly in his ability to handle pressure and blitzes from opposing defenses.

Stefanski said he was pleased overall by the protection by the offense in Week 12 but knows there are areas of improvement both in the how they structure the protection, as well as how Sanders adjusts to movement and pressure from opposing defenses. Stefanski also added one of the strengths in Sanders' skillset comes in his ability to move and play off schedule, an element of his game they noted during the draft evaluation process.

"(He) made a big play versus an all-out pressure, that's going to be something that you always have to anticipate," Stefanski said. "Defensive coordinators blitz young quarterbacks, it's just what they do. And we have to look at that as an opportunity in the pass game to make big plays. So, that's a focus for us moving forward."

Now as the Browns begin game planning for Week 13, Sanders will continue in his role as the starting quarterback and prepare to make his second start in front of a home crowd at Huntington Bank Field.

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The Browns after a NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders on November 23, 2025 at Allegiant Stadium.

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