Shedeur Sanders to Start for Browns on Sunday as Watson Stays in Concussion Protocol

The Cleveland Browns named Shedeur Sanders their starting quarterback for Sunday’s game at New Orleans, head coach Todd Monken announced on Friday, with Deshaun Watson still in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Watson took a helmet-to-helmet hit against Pittsburgh last Sunday, was cleared to return and cleared again on Monday morning, then reported symptoms on Monday night and was placed in the protocol on Wednesday. Sanders took the first-team reps all week, and he will start even if Watson is cleared to play.

Why is Sanders starting on Sunday?

Because Watson could not practice fully this week, and Monken decided the preparation gap matters more than the clearance. Watson is officially listed as questionable, the Browns report, and Monken said the team is starting Sanders because Watson was unable to fully practice throughout the week. Sporting News adds the sharper detail: Monken decided that even if Watson is cleared to play, he did not have enough practice time to prepare for New Orleans. Sanders, by contrast, took reps with the first team throughout the week. The decision gives the second-year quarterback a full week of starter preparation, which is a different proposition from the two mop-up appearances he has made this season, when he entered only because Watson briefly left the game.

What happened to Watson, and why did it take days to surface?

The hit itself was early and visible, and the symptoms were not. Watson took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker in the first quarter of Sunday’s 27-6 loss in Pittsburgh, Browns Wire reports. He went to the medical tent, was cleared by the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant, returned on the next series and finished the game. He passed evaluations after the game and again on Monday morning, then told the medical staff on Tuesday that symptoms began on Monday night. The Browns placed him in the protocol on Wednesday. The sequence is the delayed-symptom pattern the protocol is built for: a player can pass every check in the stadium and still develop symptoms days later, and the timeline is now the reason Sanders is starting.

What is Watson’s status for Sunday?

Questionable, and still in the protocol. Watson did not participate in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, then returned in a limited capacity on Friday, the Browns report. He did work in individual drills and spent time in the meeting room, but he could not participate in team reps. Sporting News reports team doctors could clear him on Saturday to make way for him to be available on Sunday, in which case he would likely serve as Sanders’s backup. Watson has started every game for Cleveland this year, and that streak will end this week. His status beyond Week 9 remains uncertain and will depend on his progression through the protocol.

What has Sanders done this season?

Very little on the field, and a lot of preparation off it. Sanders has served as Watson’s backup through the first eight weeks, the Browns report, and played in two games: one completed pass in Week 3 against Carolina, and two completions for two yards in Week 8 against Pittsburgh, both times when Watson took a hit and came out for part of a series. Since then he has stayed ready the unglamorous way, taking part in the Hungry Dawgs group after practice for additional reps, sitting in the meeting room all season and standing on the sideline during games with quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian and Watson as they discuss the previous series. Monken believes the first-team reps Sanders took in training camp, when the two quarterbacks split the job, will help him recall the system on Sunday. It is the kind of preparation that only matters if the moment arrives, and this week it did. The opponent, for its part, is a team under its own pressure: Saints owner Gayle Benson called the club’s 1-4 start not acceptable and named the coach and general manager responsible.

What did Sanders do as a rookie?

He started seven games in 2025 after taking over from Dillon Gabriel, throwing for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions, Sporting News reports, and the Browns went 3-4 in those starts. He was the 144th pick of the 2025 draft, a fifth-rounder out of Colorado by way of Jackson State, and he arrived in Cleveland as one of the most talked-about picks in the draft. The rookie season was uneven, which the numbers show plainly, but it also means Sunday is not his first start. It is his first start of this season, against a Saints defense that has given up 27.7 points per game, and with the Browns at 5-3 and one game behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North. Jalon Daniels got his first NFL win this season by calling his mom onto the postgame desk, and Cam Ward laughed off a viral video from his own Titans press conference rather than letting it define his week, which is the range of ways a young quarterback’s week can go.

What about the new agent?

Sanders recently hired Adie von Gontard, CEO of Young Money APAA Sports, as his agent, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, Awful Announcing reports, which led to speculation that he may be looking to maneuver his way out of Cleveland via trade after Watson’s strong start to the season cemented the veteran’s job as the starter. Asked about the decision at Wednesday’s media availability, Sanders bristled, wanting to know how it was relevant to this weekend’s game. “What that got to do with this game?” he asked. “I’m focused on this game. Anything else really don’t matter at this point.” The hire is a fair question for a quarterback ahead of what could be a career-altering start, and Sanders’s answer is fair too: the game comes first. Whether the agent move means anything for his future in Cleveland will be judged after Sunday, not before it. For now, the Browns are 5-3 and in a division race, and Dak Prescott knows what a week of outside noise feels like after a loss, which is the context Sanders is stepping into as a starter.