Stefanski stresses continued improvement for Sanders after successful 1st start for Browns

Shedeur Sanders is the first Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback to win his first NFL start in 30 years.

His next task? Trying to lead the Browns to two straight wins for the first time in two seasons.

Coach Kevin Stefanski said on Monday that Sanders will get another start after he led the Browns to a 24-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

“Number one job of quarterback is to win. So excited to get that first win under his belt and then next thing is improvement. And that’s what young players do. Certainly, young quarterbacks do. You get one game better and that’s just from working at it,” Stefanski said.

After struggling in his NFL debut against the Ravens, Sanders showed improvement on Sunday. He completed 11 of 20 for 209 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

It was only the third time this season a Browns QB has thrown for more than 200 yards.

Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’ game plan for Sanders had some similarities to what was employed for Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel. Thirteen of Sanders’ attempts were under 10 air yards or behind the line of scrimmage.

However, Rees wasn’t tentative about letting Sanders throw it deep. Sanders was 2 of 5 for 91 yards on passes of at least 21 air yards, including a 52-yard connection to Isaiah Bond late in the first quarter.

Sanders rolled right after being pressured by Maxx Crosby while Bond was able to get separation from Raiders cornerback Darnay Holmes.

By comparison, Gabriel was 2 of 11 on deep balls in six starts.

“I thought communication was really good throughout the day with him. And then like you mentioned, the big plays down the field, obviously that first one to I.B. (Isaiah Bond) was very high degree of difficulty with that play,” Stefanski said.

Sanders’ 66-yard touchdown to Dylan Sampson on a screen pass and 52-yard completion to Bond are Cleveland’s two-longest pass plays of the season.

While avoiding sacks and eluding pressure was a problem during preseason games and against Baltimore, Sanders was sacked only once despite being pressured on eight of his 21 drop-backs.

“First start for any young quarterback, you’re always going to make sure the operation is how you want it, and I thought by and large was good,” Stefanski said. “There’s things that we can clean up and obviously that goes on all of us.

“Are there things that he can do better? Absolutely. We’ve already talked about that with him. He has the mentality that he will make the adjustments to the speed of the game, make the adjustments to what people are giving us, to make those improvements.”

What’s working

The pass rush, which sacked Las Vegas’ Geno Smith 10 times. That was the second most in a game in team history. DE Myles Garrett had three sacks while eight players had least half a sack.

What needs help

Doing a better job converting on third down. The offense was 3 of 12 against the Raiders after going 2 of 14 the week before versus the Ravens.

Stock up

With six games remaining, Garrett has already set the team record with 18 sacks. It is also the most by an NFL player after 11 games since sacks became an official stat in 1982. Garrett’s 14 sacks in the past five games also surpassed Michael Strahan (12 1/2 in 2001) for most in that span.

Stock down

RB Jerome Ford had only one carry for minus-3 yards and continues to be an afterthought in the offense. He has four carries for zero yards in the past five games and no catches in the past three.

Injuries

DT Adin Huntington (quad) and TE Brenden Bates (ankle) are expected to miss multiple games after being injured on Sunday,

Key numbers

13 — Road game losing streak snapped on Sunday at Las Vegas.

8-34-1 — Total record since 1999 of quarterbacks when they make their first Browns start.

89 — Tackles this season by LB Carson Schwesinger. The team’s rookie record is 108 by Wally Rainer in 1999.

What’s next

Cleveland is 2-3 at home this season going into Sunday’s game against San Francisco. The Browns have won 8 of 10 at home against the 49ers, including the past four.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL