CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns had a 33% chance to have a Rookie of the Week winner after tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and quarterback Shedeur Sanders were both nominated for the weekly honor. On Thursday, Sanders walked away with the award.
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Sanders was named the NFL’s rookie of the Week after his impressive third start for the Browns. In the game against the Titans, Sanders threw for 364 yards and three touchdowns with 29 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown and one interception. Sanders pushed the ball downfield two scores and led back-to-back touchdown drives to give the Browns a chance at the win, only falling to the Titans after the Browns had two failed 2-point conversions. His passing yards tied for the third most by a Browns rookie in a game in franchise history, only under two of Baker Mayfield's games.
His outing also led the Browns to name him the starting quarterback for the last four games of the season, allowing him to continue showing off his progress on the field.
Sanders has been praised for his production on the field and quick growth in the starting role for Cleveland.
"There's a maturation throughout a rookie's first year, and it definitely starts in the spring in mastering the offensive system and those types of things. And then you try to start to master the defensive systems, and we've talked a lot, each week you're going up against a completely different defense with different rules for their coverages, different pressure packages, so we have rules in our protection. So, all of that I think for young quarterbacks is really important to continue to develop in those regular-season game plan weeks as you go. But in terms of light turning on, those type of things, I just think he's committed to getting better every single week. And that's what you want,” Stefanski said.
Sanders was up for the award with Fannin, among four other players, but took the win at the end of voting. Fannin also had a strong game as the Browns' leading receiver in the game with 114 yards on eight catches. Fannin found the end zone, the final score of the day that had the potential to tie things up at the end of the fourth quarter. Fannin made an impressive contested catch in the corner of the end zone for six on a pass from Sanders.
While Sanders adds this accolade to his resume, his focus lies solely on his upcoming game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
“My focus right now is the team we're playing ahead, the Bears. So anything past that I'm not really focused on, honestly. I'm thankful for it, but I'm not content with my situation with everything. And we're leading this team,” Sanders said on Wednesday.
Sanders is the second Browns rookie this season to win the award. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger won the NFL’s Rookie of the Week Award in Week 11.
