Shedeur Sanders spent the first eight weeks of the season as Deshaun Watson’s backup. On Sunday he starts for the 5-3 Cleveland Browns at the 2-5 New Orleans Saints. It is his first start of 2026, and he said the job this week is simple. “Deshaun led us this far and it’s unfortunate he wasn’t able to go out there,” Sanders said Wednesday. “But on my end, I just got to step up for the quarterback room, for the team and do what I have to do. Overall I’m just excited for the opportunity.”
Kickoff at the Caesars Superdome is 1:00 p.m. ET, which is 8:00 p.m. in Cairo. Watson was cleared from the concussion protocol on Saturday and is listed as questionable, but Todd Monken announced on Friday that Sanders would start. Monken said the reason was that Watson could not take part in team periods all week.
“So I don’t think we lost a step”
Sanders and Watson split the first-team reps in training camp, and Monken didn’t name Watson the Week 1 starter until August 24. Sanders said that work is paying off now. “I would definitely say it was important,” he said. “It was valuable, just tapping back into that memory bank, having those reps and everything. That’s why I’m thankful for this whole offseason and everything and just being out there with the guys each and every day, being able to still get some throws in with them. So I don’t think we lost a step.”
He also said his rookie season taught him what to fix. “Last year, I’ll say I was able to see what I needed to see, feel different things during the games and understand what I need to get better at,” he said. Sanders was a fifth-round pick in 2025 and started the last seven games of that season, going 3-4. He completed 56.6 percent of his passes for 1,400 yards, with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. This season he has played only a few snaps, in Week 3 against Carolina and Week 8 at Pittsburgh, both times when Watson came out for part of a series. He is 3 of 3 for 2 yards.
“I like to keep everything even”
Sanders said his routine would not change because he is starting. “The same way I’ve been preparing every week. No different,” he said. As the backup, he added, “I just come and do my job and learn everything I can while I do that.”
He said he stays calm through changes like this one. “I’ve always been very relaxed when it comes to things as this and other things just in life in general,” he said. “So I ain’t really trying to ride the roller-coaster life. I like to keep everything even.” He did not want to talk about signing with an agent last month, after he had come into the league without one. “I’m focused on this game,” he said. “Anything else really don’t matter at this point.” His plan for Sunday: “Just go out there and trust my teammates, trust the game plan and do everything I can.”
“He’s a baller”
His receivers backed him. “Just his competitive nature, man, his big-play ability, the way he drive the ball downfield, give the receiver chances and just make plays,” Jerry Jeudy said. “He’s a baller. He definitely matured a lot more compared to last season. Just knowing how the NFL goes, understanding the process, understanding how things need to be.”
KC Concepcion, a rookie, got first-team reps with Sanders in camp. “It helps a lot knowing that me and Shedeur had that chemistry, had that bond going before the season started,” Concepcion said. “So all we have to do is just get that bond back started.” Fellow rookie receiver Denzel Boston said Sanders “has unwavering confidence in himself,” and added: “So we feed off that confidence.”
The defense said the same thing. Defensive tackle Mason Graham said: “One of his things, he’s always been able to throw the deep ball, create explosive plays.” Cornerback Denzel Ward said his “first thought that comes to my mind is next-man-up mentality always, no matter the position.”
What Monken wants to see
Monken liked what he saw in practice. “Been great, been a really good three days,” he said Friday. “I liked his confidence, liked the way that he operated. Looked very comfortable in terms of getting our guys in and out of the huddle, getting to the line of scrimmage which will be half of the battle this week obviously going there. And I thought he threw the ball extremely well.” He listed the things Sanders has improved: “his footwork, his drops, his mechanics, understanding where to go with the ball, sense of urgency in terms of working through his progressions, protections.”
“I’m fired up to see him play, who wouldn’t be?” Monken said. “Let’s go. It’s the expectation of the position. This is what he has wanted. He wants to be a starting quarterback in the NFL let’s go, let’s let it rip. Let’s see what we got.”
The matchup should help. New Orleans ranks 29th in points allowed at 27.7 per game, 28th in total defense at 372.2 yards, 29th against the run at 139.4 yards and 23rd against the pass at 233.3 yards. Cleveland’s offense has struggled. It ranks 29th in scoring at 17.4 points a game and 22nd in passing at 204.3 yards, and it is coming off a 27-6 loss in Pittsburgh in which Watson was sacked eight times. “He’s got the arm talent you’re looking for. He’s got a nice touch,” Monken said of Sanders. After the Saints, the Browns host Houston before their bye.
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