Shedeur Sanders injury update: Browns make decision on QB vs. Patriots

Shedeur Sanders is inactive against the New England Patriots today, the Cleveland Browns announced. The rookie quarterback in dealing with a back injury.

Dillin Gabriel will remain the starting quarterback during Week 8. However, Bailey Zappe has been elevated from the practice squad to add depth to the Browns’ QB room this week.

In addition, CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse, DT Adin Huntington, S Damontae Kazee, OT Cornelius Lucas, RB Raheim Sanders and OG Zak Zinter were all placed on the team’s inactives list ahead of the mid-season matchup.

Zappe is in his fourth season in the NFL out of Western Kentucky. He was drafted in the fourth round by the New England Patriots during the 2022 NFL Draft. He has 15 career games under his belt, including nine starts. One of those came last season with the Browns.

For Sanders, he has been the second-team quarterback for the Browns since Cleveland traded Joe Flacco earlier this month. Flacco is now the starter for the Cincinnati Bengals and Gabriel has been QB1 for Cleveland ever since.

This is the first game in his NFL career that Sanders is inactive, though he hasn’t recorded any stats as the second and third string quarterback of the Browns’ offense. This came after a successful career in college that saw him throw for over 14,000 yards and 130 touchdowns over four seasons before turning pro.

Sanders was thought to be a potential first-round draft choice when April’s annual even rolled around. Though, he fell all the way to the third day. He fell into the Browns lap at No. 144 overall — the sixth pick in the fifth round.

He’ll look to make it back on the field sooner rather than later as he nurses his back injury this weekend. Zappe will be Gabriel’s backup for the afternoon, or likely until Sanders is completely healed.

Kickoff between the Browns and Patriots is set for 1 p.m. ET and will air live on FOX. New England is off to a 5-2 start to the season, led by second-year quarterback Drake Maye and new head coach Mike Vrabel. A win here would do wonders for Cleveland’s confidence moving forward.

In the three games that Gabriel has started (five total game appearances) in Cleveland, he’s completed 59.8% (64-107) of his passes for 546 yards and three touchdowns. Gabriel has yet to throw and interception during his short NFL career.