The Cleveland Browns quarterback battle has captured significant attention throughout training camp, but a concerning development on Day 9 may have altered the competition’s trajectory.
Rookie Shedeur Sanders experienced soreness in his throwing arm during individual drills, forcing the team to pull him from Saturday’s practice session.
The timing of this setback creates additional complications for Sanders, who had recently started earning more first-team repetitions.
Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot provided crucial context about the injury report and its potential significance.
“Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders started throwing in individual drills on Day 9 of training camp on Saturday, and told the team his right throwing arm was sore and bothering him, a league source told cleveland.com. The fact that he self-reported the soreness is significant, because he’s still involved in the four-way competition for the starting job, and wouldn’t miss a snap unless he absolutely had to,” Cabot wrote.
Sanders was limited to post-practice conditioning work with receivers and tight ends after the team shut down his throwing activities.
While Cleveland has not characterized the injury as serious, the timing presents challenges for a player already fighting to establish himself in the NFL.
The fifth-round pick from Colorado had been gaining momentum in recent practices.
With Kenny Pickett managing a hamstring issue and Joe Flacco’s workload being carefully monitored, Sanders had started receiving more opportunities with the starting unit.
Those first-team snaps will now shift to fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, who has impressed coaches and observers throughout camp.
The Browns open preseason play against Carolina on August 8, making every practice repetition valuable for evaluation purposes.
Sanders already faced an uphill climb after sliding from projected first-round status to the fifth round of April’s draft.
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