BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski on Wednesday was noncommittal on whether rookie Shedeur Sanders — or practice squad quarterback Bailey Zappe — would be the team’s backup quarterback in the aftermath of trading Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cleveland traded Flacco and a 2026 sixth-round pick to Cincinnati on Tuesday in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick, leaving Sanders and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel as the only quarterbacks on the active roster. However, Stefanski said he would “let the week play out [and] make a decision later” when asked about the QB2 role.
“All roster type of things, I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development,” Stefanski said. “And I want to make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players and, of course, our team. But with young players, I’m always thinking about — last week, making the change to Dillon, you have to think long and hard about that, because these are young players that you are so invested in their development. So, I’ll let the week play out [and] make a decision later.”
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Stefanski also would not say if the team would sign Zappe to the active roster ahead of Sunday’s game so that one of the backups could serve as the inactive emergency quarterback.
Last week, Stefanski confirmed that Gabriel received reps with the starting offense during the regular season as the backup. When asked if Sanders and Zappe would split some first-team reps this week, Stefanski said, “Need to work through it all. Again, really like the guys we have. We just got to work through all it.”
Sanders, the 144th pick in this year’s draft, has been inactive as the No. 3 and emergency QB through the Browns’ first five games. In the aftermath of trading Flacco, Cleveland on Tuesday listed Sanders as its No. 2 QB on this week’s unofficial depth chart.
“I wouldn’t say there’s one thing you need to see [from Sanders],” Stefanski said. “In my role, I have to do what’s best for our players, our team, and I’m very, very invested in our player development, our young players’ development, our quarterback development. So, any decision I make, I want to just make sure that I’m doing what’s right for our players.”
Sanders did not speak with the media Wednesday, but wide receiver Jerry Jeudy credited the rookie quarterback for “doing whatever the coaches ask of him.”
“He’s been doing a great job of being a pro and doing what he needs to do to be able to, once he gets his chance, to take advantage of it. That’s all we can ask for him to do: Once he gets his opportunity, just take advantage of it,” Jeudy said.
Flacco started the first four games before being benched for Gabriel, who made his first career start last Sunday, a 21-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. Stefanski said that the trade “took us by surprise” and that the Bengals reached out to the team about a possible deal.
Deshaun Watson remains on the physically unable to perform list as he rehabs from an Achilles injury. Stefanski did not provide an update on whether Watson would return to practice soon but said, “he’s doing an excellent job with his rehab.”
