Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Makes Dillon Gabriel Demand After Debut Loss
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders defended Dillon Gabriel.
Shedeur Sanders was not pleased with the treatment Dillon Gabriel received from Cleveland Browns fans on Sunday and called for a change.
Gabriel started Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. He was booed multiple times after incompletions, and the home crowd at Huntington Bank Field even chanted Sanders’ name.
The crowd got what they wished for in the second half. Gabriel was held out with a concussion and Sanders stepped in for his first NFL action. When Sanders took the field for the first time, the stadium erupted.
After the game, Sanders said he is embracing the fans’ enthusiasm but also wants them to lay off Gabriel when he’s in the game.
“Well first let me say this. Dillon’s out there playing and all that, I appreciate the fans. I appreciate everybody, but I’m a good person overall, so I don’t really like him not feeling comfortable, confident when he gets out there,” Sanders said, referencing the boos. “So it puts everything in a tough spot and it’s not helping the team. So that could be taken as, ‘OK, I’m being a distraction even though I ain’t doing nothing,’ You know? I’m not doing nothing.
“But I’m thankful for the supporters, thankful for the fans, thankful for everybody out there that believes. And yeah, when I got out there, I definitely felt them, and I’m truly thankful for it. I’m thankful, seeing all them ’12′ jerseys out there, and it was a great feeling for that.”
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Upset With Performance
Sanders did not fare well in his debut. He completed just four passes for 47 yards and an interception. He took accountability for his poor play in his postgame press conference.
“Losing isn’t something I’m comfortable with at all. I got to take this one. I got to decompress. I got to understand this really happened on my watch. I don’t like the feeling,” Sanders said. “And I know offensively, if I’m able to get out there and have an opportunity, I know that I’ll be able to take everything to a different level. Like I said, I still have the same confidence. I’m still me. I’ll never go anywhere. … I’m excited for it. I just got to take this one and build on it.”
Sanders had a chance to tie the game and be the hero late. But his deep shot to Gage Larvadain was dropped in the end zone.
“I don’t think there’s a doubt in my mind that that final drive was going to go down there and score. Things happen and we didn’t,” Sanders said. “But I was just excited because I knew what I was going to be able to do out there.”
Dillon Gabriel Will Be Browns’ Starter if Healthy
Gabriel is in concussion protocol. But if he’s healthy, Gabriel will return to his starting role, per head coach Kevin Stefanski.
“Yes,” Stefanski said of Gabriel remaining the starter. “There’s obviously a lot that goes into that protocol. So, we’ll see.”
The Browns face the two-win Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. There’s a chance that Sanders will get a full week of prep and draw the first start of his NFL career. If things go that way, Stefanski is confident the fifth-round rookie will be ready.
“He will improve every day, like he has. He’ll improve every single day. He’ll put the work in like he’s doing,” Stefanski said. “There’s plays I know that he wants back, but he’ll keep working. We have a ton of faith in our players and that includes our starters, our backups, our young guys, our vets. We trust our guys.”
The Browns have opened as three-point underdogs for the Week 12 matchup against the Raiders.
Bills Veteran Delivers Harsh Warning to Keon Coleman After Benching
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Keon Coleman #0 of the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman had the support of teammates after his up-and-down rookie season, but now it appears he’s getting a dose of tough love instead.
Coleman was benched for Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he reportedly missed a team meeting on Friday — the third time in a year and a half that he faced discipline for missing team obligations.
After the game, one of the team’s longest-tenured players delivered a harsh warning to Coleman about his future with the team.
Dion Dawkins Warns Receiver
Speaking to reporters after Sunday’s 44-32 win, left tackle Dion Dawkins said he already had a talk with Coleman about taking his obligations more seriously.
“I’ve already spoken to him,” Dawkins said. “When I spoke to Keon before, I said, ‘Bro, look, don’t even worry about it. Everybody goes through a different journey. Let’s just say that this is the last time, and let’s just move forward.’ And he said, ‘I’m with you.’ That’s all we need.”
While Dawkins stressed that he was still supportive of Coleman, he issued a warning that the second-year receiver needed to “grow up.”
“Nobody’s perfect, but in this league we need guys to come on. And Keon knows now he’s in the hot seat, and he needs to come on and show up for us,” Dawkins said. “Pats on the back are over with and it’s time for him to grow up and he knows it. As an older player on the team, we’ve got to hold everybody accountable. And we shoot straight. We don’t sugarcoat it.”
Keon Coleman Was Already in the Crosshairs
Coleman already faced pressure coming into this season, with head coach Sean McDermott saying this summer that his rookie season was “rocky.” Coleman showed flashes of strong play but also missed a long stretch due to injury, then struggled to bring the same production once he returned.
“I thought he got off to a start that he built momentum through, and then he got injured, and then from there on, it was rather rocky,” McDermott said.
“We’re looking for him to learn from those moments of adversity, and come back and have a really, really, really strong offseason and get himself going into the start of season two,” the Bills head coach added. “And that takes a certain type of person with a certain drive and determination and fire in their heart, and it’s going to be Keon’s turn to show that he has that this offseason.”
Dawkins had been supportive of Coleman in the summer, talking up the receiver and predicting he was headed for a big season.
But the receiver continued to struggle with his play, leading to questions about his effort. McDermott again criticized Coleman after last week’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, saying he was not satisfied with his play.
“He knows if I’m not satisfied. It’s fair that you’re asking about,” McDermott said, via SI.com. “I can promise you it gets addressed when it isn’t (satisfactory) or where it needs to be. It’s been addressed … at times it’s been good and other times it can improve.”
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty
