Browns QB Shedeur Sanders drops his own update on a lingering issue he was dealing with ahead of Cleveland’s first preseason game
Shedeur Sanders settled one injury question that was going around ahead of the Cleveland Browns first preseason game against the Chicago Bears.
The Cleveland Browns made a key announcement on Wednesday when they decided that quarterback Deshaun Watson would start the first preseason game against the Chicago Bears on Saturday on the road. It will be Watson’s first return to field action since 2024 when he suffered the Achilles injury. Watson gets the first start ahead of Shedeur Sanders, who he is battling for the starting quarterback job. Sanders will get the second start against the Buffalo Bills and play beginning in the third quarter, at least according to the current plan from coach Todd Monken.
Sanders and Watson have been battling for the starting quarterback job through OTAs and training camp to this point, and it seems to be a close battle with both quarterbacks having good days and not-so-good days. There has been nothing from either player to really make you say one guy has won the job.
Shedeur Sanders addresses blister rumors
There have been noise that Sanders was potentially dealing with blister issues on his throwing hand, and that could have been impacting his throwing. Sanders was asked about that on Wednesday, and he said:
“No, that happened this past offseason, getting back into it, just from throwing a lot,” Sanders said. “Honestly, that’s where it came from. They’ve all healed up now. That was the thing at the start of training camp and everything that we just had to work through and figure out.”
It sounds like Sanders was dealing with the blisters when training camp opened a couple of weeks ago, and since then they have healed up and he’s back to throwing the ball more comfortably. Sanders is entering his second season as a former fifth-round pick, and he started seven games for the Browns last year where Cleveland went 3-4.
Sanders has a chance to help his case as early as Saturday
For Sanders, he’s trying to show he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL. He would really need to spark the Browns offense in 2026 for them to think about bypassing a quarterback in 2027. This first game against the Bears in the preseason will give him a chance to operate with the second-team offense in the third quarter and show what he can do.
It’s good news for Cleveland that the blisters are behind him and won’t be getting in the way of the quarterback battle. The Browns and Bears kickoff at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday before Cleveland takes on the Buffalo Bills next week.
