Shedeur Sanders found himself in the middle of another debate Saturday, except this one had little to do with Cleveland’s crowded quarterback competition.
During the Cleveland Browns’ preseason matchup with the Buffalo Bills, Sanders scrambled as Buffalo pressure closed in and appeared to take an open hand to the head. Officials did not flag Buffalo for the contact. Instead, Cleveland guard Zak Zinter was called for holding, wiping out the scramble and sending social media into referee mode.
NFL World Questions No Call on Shedeur Sanders Hit
NFL reporter Charles Robinson was among those baffled by what he saw.
“What? How do you miss a slap to Shedeur Sanders’ head?” Robinson wrote in an X post. “That’s absolutely a 15-yard penalty.”
Josina Anderson focused on both sides of the officiating sequence. “QUESTIONABLE: Refs call a questionable holding call on #Browns G Zak Zinter whilst missing Shedeur Sanders getting smacked in the head, negating this scramble play by Shedeur Sanders,” she wrote in her post.
QUESTIONABLE: Refs call a questionable holding call on #Browns G Zak Zinter whilst missing Shedeur Sanders getting smacked in the head, negating this scramble play by Shedeur Sanders. pic.twitter.com/NhoI742KSq
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) August 22, 2026
The criticism kept coming. Browns account McNeil wrote, “We just letting lineman slap Shedeur Sanders in the head now.”
We just letting lineman slap Shedeur Sanders in the head now pic.twitter.com/6HgbLjlQwY
— McNeil (@REFLOG18) August 22, 2026
Another user, Cupcake, questioned the apparent inconsistency. “So, people can slap Shedeur in neck and head and refs make no call,” the fan wrote in another post.
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2Gski had the same complaint, with considerably more disbelief. “Shedeur just got slapped upside his head and the refs called offensive holding. No Personal Foul. wtf?” the fan wrote in a post.
Shedeur just got slapped upside his head and the refs called offensive holding. No Personal Foul. wtf? 😂😂😂
— 2Gski (@FamilleGeez) August 22, 2026
Another user on X added, “Shedeur just got slapped upside the head, and they called a hold on the OL lol.”
The NFL rulebook gives officials several avenues to penalize forcible contact to the head or neck area, depending on a quarterback’s status during the play. Robinson’s argument was that the contact visible on the replay warranted a 15-yard personal foul.
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Sanders Shows Improvement Despite Browns Loss
The controversy became one piece of a much larger evaluation day for Sanders. He completed 9 of 11 passes for 74 yards, one touchdown, and one interception as Cleveland fell 31-7. His touchdown came on an 8-yard completion to Luke Floriea.
Sanders was considerably more efficient than in Cleveland’s preseason opener, when he completed 6 of 11 passes for 79 yards with an interception. The improvement comes as head coach Todd Monken approaches a decision between Sanders and Deshaun Watson for the starting job.
There is ground to make up. Sanders finished 2025 with a 63.0 PFN QB Impact score, ranking 37th among 38 qualifying quarterbacks.
Whether Saturday moved him closer to winning the job is another debate. On one particular scramble, though, plenty of people watching reached the same conclusion: Sanders probably deserved a flag rather than watching one go against his own offensive line.
