The 2025 Cleveland Browns have struggled this season. They are 2-5 and have had a rotating cast of quarterbacks. They started the year with Joe Flacco as their starter and went into the season with four quarterbacks. They traded away Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco and only have their rookies, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Gabriel is starting, but there is a lot of speculation around Sanders.

At the team's press conference, browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told the media that Shedeur Sanders is not getting practice reps with the first-team offense. Sanders is the backup, but Gabriel has been cemented as the starter. Stefanski reasoned that Gabriel is also a rookie, and he wants him to get as many reps as possible as a young quarterback, whereas with Joe Flacco, it could be more split.

“With a young quarterback, with Dillon starting, you want to ensure he gets many reps. It's different when you have a veteran with Joe,” said Stefanski, who also noted that Sanders is “still getting reps in a bunch of periods.”

Sanders was upgraded to the backup role for the last two games after being listed as the emergency third quarterback for the first five games.

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Since being upgraded, Sanders has split scout team reps with practice squad quarterback Bailey Zappe. Stefanski noted that Sanders and other young players also get reps in post-practice sessions.

The Browns are 1-2 since they moved to Dillon Gabriel and traded away Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals. He got his first win as a starter this season when they beat the Miami Dolphins 31-6. So far, Gabriel has completed 59.8% of his passes for 546 yards and three touchdowns.

Stefanski is a great NFL coach known for developing some solid offenses. He seems to be one of the best coaches to try to establish Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders as rookies.

Shedeur Sanders attracts much attention because of who he is and his dad. There will always be questions about that, and there is the added storyline that Sanders fell so far in the 2025 NFL Draft after being projected as a first-round pick.