After Dillon Gabriel was injured in the first half of the Cleveland Browns’ Week 11 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, Shedeur Sanders took over to lead the offense in the second half.
It’s safe to say that the 2025 fifth-round pick’s NFL regular-season debut was rough, and his play drew plenty of criticism. However, a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback recently defended Sanders, saying the public has a wide misconception about the young quarterback’s performance.
Former Cowboys QB Addresses Misconceptions About Shedeur Sanders
There’s no denying that Sanders struggled in the second half of the Browns’ game against the Ravens. The rookie completed just four of 16 passes for 47 yards, threw an interception, and took two costly sacks. According to PFSN’s QBi metric, his performance ranked last among all NFL quarterbacks in Week 11.
While Sanders struggled, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Ben DiNucci believes the blame can’t fall entirely on him. On the Ross Tucker Podcast, DiNucci explained that most NFL fans assume practice reps are split evenly among quarterbacks, but that isn’t how it actually works.
“I think the biggest misunderstanding from backups in the NFL to starters is that people assume that practice reps, the starters, and the backups, everybody is getting the same equal opportunities during practice.”
“I think the biggest misunderstanding for backups in the NFL is that people assume everybody is getting the same equal opportunities during practice.”@B_Dinucci6 shares the biggest misconception about backup QBs in the NFL: pic.twitter.com/KDB2RRi1hM
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) November 19, 2025
Sanders began the season in Cleveland as the team’s third-string and emergency quarterback behind Gabriel and Joe Flacco. During that time, he saw very few reps in practice, as DiNucci noted. Even after the Browns traded Flacco, most practice reps still went to Gabriel.
With so few reps, DiNucci explained, it’s difficult for a quarterback to build chemistry with the starting offense. He drew from his own experience as a former Cowboys backup, when he was forced to start a Sunday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles after both Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton were injured.
DiNucci recalled that the Wednesday before the game was the first time he ever threw a pass to any of the wide receivers he would be targeting that Sunday night.
First time I ever threw a ball to Amari Cooper , Ceedee Lamb , Michael Gallup was the Wednesday before the Sunday night game couple years ago…
If you aren’t the starter – you aren’t getting practice reps. It’s just how the NFL works. https://t.co/KXoh8PCBlg
— Ben DiNucci (@B_DiNucci6) November 19, 2025
“First time I ever threw a ball to Amari Cooper, Ceedee Lamb, Michael Gallup was the Wednesday before the Sunday night game couple years ago,” DiNucci wrote. “If you aren’t the starter–you aren’t getting practice reps. It’s just how the NFL works.”
So while Sanders didn’t play his best against the Ravens on Sunday, fans must remember it was his first time throwing to the Browns’ starting wide receivers and playing behind the starting offensive line. Their season is more or less over, barring a miracle, with a 2-8 record so far. According to PFSN’s playoff metric, the Browns will finish with a 5-12 record at best. So, why not eye for 2026?
NFL teams practice every week to get everyone on the same page, and as DiNucci points out, if a player, especially a quarterback, misses those reps, it makes success on Sundays much harder.
