2 Browns Players Who Were Bright Spots Despite Week 1 Loss

It is difficult for the Cleveland Browns to find anything to be proud of from their embarrassing 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in their season opener. Deshaun Watson threw an interception on his third pass of the game, the Jaguars capitalized by taking the lead, and the Browns never recovered.

Any good play Cleveland may have made was almost immediately countered by a bad one. Afterward, head coach Todd Monken said there was plenty of blame to go around, and he was right.

Yet, two Browns players emerged as bright spots: offensive lineman Austin Barber and kick returner Raheim Sanders.

Barber somewhat surprisingly made his NFL debut as Cleveland’s starting right guard. A third-round pick from the 2026 draft who played tackle in college, Barber was gaining on Teven Jenkins toward the end of the preseason and got the nod on Sunday when Jenkins was deemed inactive with a back injury.

He rewarded that confidence in a big way, as Pro Football Focus graded him as Cleveland’s best offensive player. He was also the highest-rated rookie offensive lineman in the league, ahead of four other players who were all first-round picks.

Barber played every one of Cleveland’s 51 offensive snaps, and he did not commit any of its six accepted penalties. Unfortunately, it did not lead to much success on offense, as the Browns went 1-for-8 on third down and did not score a touchdown until there was less than two minutes to play.

It looked like the Browns were going to be shut out in Monken’s NFL head coaching debut before Sanders saved the day. After the Jaguars took a 31-0 lead, his 74-yard kickoff return gave Cleveland the ball at the Jacksonville 23-yard line. The offense could not take full advantage, but Andre Szmyt was able to make a 26-yard field goal to get the zero off the board.

For the game, Sanders posted 130 yards on three kickoff returns. No individual offensive player had more than 70 all-purpose yards.

Hopefully, other Browns will start to make their marks in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, instead of having a rookie offensive lineman and a kick returner leading the way.