Browns rookie Sanders impresses in preseason debut

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders impressed the first half of his NFL preseason debut, throwing two touchdown passes to Kaden Davis against the Carolina Panthers. The first, a 7-yard TD pass to Davis between two defenders, prompted his Hall of Fame father and Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders to take to social media. "Yes Lawd! Yes @ShedeurSanders," Sanders posted on X. Sanders closed out the first half with a 12-yard TD strike to Davis over the middle to give the Browns a 14-7 lead at the break. Sanders finished the half 11-of-18 passing for 103 yards with no turnovers. He also ran four times for 19 yards, which included a kneel down at the end of the half. After the second TD, the elder Sanders posted "oh yeah what now!" and "God is so good!" The Panthers aided in Sanders' success. Carolina muffed a punt return at its own 10-yard line in the second quarter, and the Browns recovered. Sanders rolled out and fired the ball between two defenders to Davis on a second-and-7 play to tie the game at 7-all in the second quarter. The scoring toss came after Cleveland's first three drives resulted in no points against Carolina's first-team defense. Both TD passes came against Carolina's backups. Sanders' performance even caught the attention of NBA star LeBron James. "That young (man) looking good out there," James wrote. "Keep going UP!!! HEAD down on the grind and HEAD high to the most high." James later added another post with "And I don't wanna hear that "It's only preseason" bs. Cause if he was out there not going in y'all would be on his (butt) about it! So give credit and grace lames." There was some good and some bad early on from the former Colorado star against the Panthers first-team defense. He looked comfortable in the pocket and showed his mobility on the second drive when he broke the pocket on a third-and-9 pass play and raced for a 10-yard gain to move the chains. But, two plays later he overthrew a wide open Jamari Thrash on a rollout and the Browns turned the ball on downs after the Panthers blew up a fourth-and-1 pass play. The Browns have been battling injuries at quarterback, leading to Sanders getting the start. Joe Flacco is the projected regular-season starter. Although Flacco is healthy, he is not playing against Carolina. Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel are rehabilitating from injuries and aren't ready to play, prompting the Browns to sign free agent Tyler Huntley earlier in the week. Coach Kevin Stefanski said Sanders and Huntley were the quarterbacks expected face the Panthers. The 6-foot-1, 212-pound Sanders was initially projected by some to go in the top 10 of the NFL draft, but he fell to the fifth round (144th overall). The 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award winner played for his father, Deion Sanders, for two seasons each at Jackson State and Colorado. Deion Sanders said he spoke to his son several times before the game and said that Shedeur is well prepared and was approaching the exhibition like a regular-season game. "That's how he's always approached everything, to prepare and approach it like this is it," Sanders said. "He's thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. He don't get caught up in all the rhetoric in the media. He's far beyond that. He was coached through that when he was a kid. We've always gone through that." Sanders had been bothered by shoulder soreness in recent days, but Stefanski said Wednesday that's no longer an issue. Sanders played in 50 college games, completing 1,267 of 1,808 passes for 14,353 yards with 134 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. He also ran for 17 touchdowns. Bryce Young started for the Panthers. ___ AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL