Shedeur Sanders' Back Injury May Be Worse Than Expected, Could Affect Future of Browns' Season
The recent health of Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been a bit of a question mark.
Earlier this season, Shedeur suffered an oblique injury on August 13th before a joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles, which kept him out of the second preseason game.
After that slight hampering, Sanders has turned in a clean bill of health, until before the Patriots game, when Sanders was added to the injury report. Sanders was listed as questionable for the game due to a back injury. Sanders was inactive for the game after not passing a workout set by Bill Musgrave.
Earlier this week, head coach Kevin Stefanski said that Shedeur’s injury is getting better, but he is still dealing with it.
Today, Shedeur returned to the field for Cleveland, practicing in a limited fashion, per Daniel Oyefusi. Reports from Browns insiders say that Shedeur looked healthy at practice, as his mobility looked good and there were no signs of pain.
This is promising news for Browns fans after the back injury scare. It is important to note that Shedeur fractured his back against Washington State last season, which led to him missing his college finale. This back injury could be a byproduct of that, but there is no evidence to support it.
The speculation that Shedeur would start slowly died down after the announcement of his injury and the Browns' decision to go into the bye week after the New England game. After Dillon Gabriel’s rough game, fans were begging the Browns to make the change.
The problem is that fans asking for the change may have to wait a little longer because of the recent news in the Browns organization and around the NFL. With Kevin Stefanski giving up the play-calling duties to Tommy Rees, that gives Dillon Gabriel more time to figure things out, as now he has a new play-caller.
Cleveland also plays the New York Jets on Sunday; the Jets have seemed to just dump on this season, as they traded away star cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts. If that wasn’t enough, they also traded away three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys.
The defense for New York will look different and take a significant loss from losing two former All-Pro players. With a new voice in his ear and a battered defense, Dillon Gabriel will look to keep his starting job firmly. The good news is that Shedeur seems to be getting healthier every day.
BREAKING: Saints Sign Audric Estimé in Desperate Attempt to Revive Struggling Offense
It's no secret that the New Orleans Saints' offense hasn't been cooking so far this season.
New Orleans is actually averaging the second-fewest points in the National Football League per game at 15.3, ahead of just the Tennessee Titans. On top of this, the Saints just traded away their No. 2 wide receiver in Rashid Shaheed. So, clearly, they need some sort of boost
That explosiveness hasn't come from the running game so far, but they did announce a move that can help on Wednesday as New Orleans shared that second-year running back Audric Estimé has been signed to the active roster.
"The New Orleans Saints have signed running back Audric Estimé to the active roster from the practice squad and re-signed defensive tackle Coziah Izzard to the practice squad, it was announced by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis," the Saints announced. "Estime, 5-11, 227, was originally a fifth-round selection (147th overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos out of Notre Dame.
"In 2024, Estimé played in 13 games with one start and carried 76 times for 310 yards (4.1 avg.) with two touchdowns, while making five receptions for 27 yards. He spent the first six weeks of the 2025 season on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad, before joining the Saints practice roster for the last two weeks."
Adding Audric Estimé to the active roster can help the offense
This is the type of move that may not get talked about a lot, but really could help. Right now, the Saints are 27th in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 89.6. The passing offense hasn't been much better, but it is ranked at No. 22 right now with 197.6 passing yards per game. Plus, the team just put rookie Tyler Shough in, who showed flashes over the last two weeks.
Estimé played in 13 games as a rookie last year with the Denver Broncos and had 310 yards on 76 attempts to go along with two touchdowns. He averaged 4.1 yards per attempt in the small sample size. In comparison, Alvin Kamara is averaging 3.6 yards per attempt this year and rookie Devin Neal is averaging 3.5 yards per attempt.
This isn't to say that Estimé is going to overtake Kamara in the backfield. He isn't and shouldn't. But, his addition to the active roster can give New Orleans some fresh legs right now with upside. The Saints need to get something working in their favor and this is the type of move that could help.
