Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders suffered an oblique injury during Wednesday’s practice and was held out for the rest of the day.
The 23-year-old has gone for an MRI to determine the severity of the injury, missing joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Super Bowl champions.
Sanders is competing for a roster spot in a crowded quarterback competition with the Browns, with any setback costing the fifth-round draft pick important time in front of the coaching staff.
Sanders looked to have an inside track to one of the valued spots on Cleveland’s 53-man roster after starting the team’s first preseason game, throwing for two touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Colorado alumnus was previously dealing with an arm injury but appeared in full health before Wednesday’s setback, which occurred early in practice, per ESPN.
Sanders is competing for a roster spot alongside Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, fellow rookie Dillion Gabriel, and Tyler Huntley. The team is likely to only keep three quarterbacks on its active roster, with Flacco nearly guaranteed one of those spots.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders reportedly suffered an oblique injury
Sanders is competing for a roster spot in a crowded quarterback competition with the Browns
Pickett looks to have the second-best odds of making the roster with his previous NFL experience.
Sanders appeared to be in direct competition with Gabriel for that third spot, with the other a strong choice to join the team’s practice squad.
Huntley being signed last week added a road block to those plans for Sanders, as it is unlikely the Browns will retain all five into the regular season.
Sanders shockingly fell from a top prospect to a fifth-round draft choice, with Gabriel being selected two rounds before him.
It sparked a huge debate across the NFL Draft in Green Bay back in April. Some had even insisted that Sanders should have been the No 1 pick but reports emerged that teams had been left unimpressed by his ‘entitled’ attitude in meetings before the draft.
Since then, however, Sanders has offered no complaints as he fights from the bottom to carve out a career in the NFL.
Remarkably, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam even publicly stated that the move to take Sanders was not his decision.
‘We had a conversation early that morning and then we had a conversation later that day,’ Haslam told reporters at practice camp in late July.
The setback for Sanders comes after he impressed in his first preseason game last Saturday
‘I think we had the right people involved in the conversation. And the end of the day, that’s [G.M.] Andrew Berry’s call. Andrew made the call to pick Shedeur.’
The Browns next preseason game is on Saturday against the Eagles, with head coach Kevin Stefanski yet to announce a starter for the contest.
They start the season on September 7 against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
