Atrás
Shedeur Sanders knows what waiting feels like, and NFL legend Terrell Owens is vouching for the way the Cleveland Browns backup is handling it. Through Week 7, Deshaun Watson has thrown 210 passes for the 5-2 Browns, who sit first in the AFC North, while Sanders has thrown one, a completion for no gain, with limited opportunities.
Speaking on the “Get TO the Point Podcast,” Owens minced no words about whether Sanders might be rooting against Watson. “Just knowing their character and how they were raised, that’s not how they think,” he said of the Sanders family.
Owens answered with a flat “No, he’s rooting for him,” then pointed to the time the two QBs share away from the field: “They’re in the same meeting room every day. They’re learning from each other.”
Owens didn’t gloss over the catch that comes with a backup’s job, either. “This is a situation where, again, if all things go right, then you’re in there. But obviously, you never want to wish something bad to happen for you to get your opportunity.”
When it came to where that outlook comes from, Owens went straight to the family name. “I’m telling you, deep down, I don’t think he was raised that way. He wasn’t raised that way. You’re talking about Deion Sanders, one of Deion Sanders’ kids.”
From there, Owens moved from what he thinks to what he knows: “I’m telling you, I know that Shedeur is rooting for Deshaun.”
Owens paired that support with a word on Sanders’ own work. “Obviously, at the same time, he’s being prepared and staying ready because he’s seen it already, right? The game can come to you with the snap of a finger.”
Owens’ comments come with Watson under center for a team that has won five of six games since a 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Sept. 13 opener. His 90.6 passer rating ranks 19th of 33 qualified quarterbacks, and Pro Football Network’s NFL QB Impact Grade has him at 70 for the season, 24th of 34 graded quarterbacks after Week 7.
In Sunday’s 27-24 win over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Watson went 25-of-36 for 308 yards with no touchdown passes and an interception. With 4:34 left, he ran for a 9-yard touchdown, his first rushing score of the season, to put Cleveland ahead 24-17.
Tony Pollard’s 1-yard run tied it with 58 seconds remaining, and Watson then led a four-play, 55-yard drive to set up Andre Szmyt’s 32-yard field goal as time expired. It was the Browns’ second straight win on the final play, after Watson led a 10-play, 62-yard drive to set up Szmyt’s 37-yarder that beat the Baltimore Ravens 13-10 on Oct. 18.
Next up is a Week 8 trip to face the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 1. Cleveland beat Pittsburgh 27-24 at home on Oct. 1, when Watson went 24-of-33 for 268 yards with a touchdown and an interception.