Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson missed practice again on Thursday as he remains in the league-mandated concussion protocol.
That makes it as close to a lock as can be that Shedeur Sanders will get his first start of the season when the Browns take on the New Orleans Saints.
The last time everyone saw Sanders in action in a regular-season game was Week 18 of last season, when he led the offense to six points in a meaningless game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
But that was then; this is now.
Hopefully Sanders can play well enough to help the Browns come home with a win that they very much need. And, to be candid, it’s not as if Watson was setting the league on fire, even though he helped the Browns to their current 5-3 record.
So the mission, which Sanders appears ready to accept, is to just be competent, don’t make any major mistakes, and get that win. Then Watson will return to the starter’s role next week, and the Browns can get along with the season.
Because no one really believes that head coach Todd Monken will stick with Sanders once Watson is cleared to play, do they?
While everyone ponders that question, let’s kick the day off with today’s edition of the Daily Dawg Chow.
Dawgs By Nature
Browns are still struggling to change the team’s culture (Thomas Moore): If the Browns want to stop being bullied, they may want to start hitting back.
Browns, Saints injury reports: 2 new important concerns for CLE (Jared Mueller): A pair of key players on Cleveland’s offense make the injury report Sunday’s game.
Browns make confusing, interesting roster move on Thursday (Jared Mueller): It feels as if Carsen Ryan has a permanent home in the daily Chow!
Browns vs. Saints Week 9 picks: Lots of people expect New Orleans to get it together against Cleveland (Chris Pokorny): Do the “experts” ever really know anything, though?
5 things we learned about the Browns in the Steelers loss (Barry Shuck): The Steelers certainly taught the Browns a lesson. The question is, was Cleveland paying attention?
Can Shedeur Sanders lead the Browns to a win? (Abby Mueller): That is the question that is on everyone’s mind right now.
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Cleveland Browns
Shedeur Sanders’ Browns teammates say he’s ‘ready to take that step’ (Beacon Journal): They are probably wrong. But they still need to present a confident front.
I’m shocked the Browns are 5-3: How did they do that? (Terry Pluto): Maybe Jimmy Haslam was on to something when he said “take the over” on Cleveland wins this season.
Deshaun Watson idle again and Shedeur Sanders a virtual lock vs. Saints (cleveland.com): It is going to be an interesting afternoon on Sunday.
Jared Verse’s rough start to Cleveland career continues as he got upset when teammates didn’t defend him in Pittsburgh (Browns Zone): Jared Verse is not happy. Are his teammates ready to step up to the challenge?
NFL
Chiefs’ floundering pass rush starts with Chris Jones: ‘I always can be better’ (ESPN): Jared Verse is not the only player looking to pile up sacks.
How the Bengals are tackling a test of logistics, routine in Madrid (The Athletic): Cincinnati is the latest team to test the foreign waters.
The Kyler Murray experiment is over (Daily Noreseman): If only there had been some way to predict this.
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