The home debut of Shedeur Sanders in Cleveland got off to an awkward start. All Browns fans remember seeing the young quarterback get chewed out on the sideline by wide receiver Jerry Jeudy in that game, one that started in promising fashion but ended with a dud, 26-8, to the San Francisco 49ers.
Sanders and Jeudy quickly buried the hatchet and moved on from the incident, but the whole thing was a brutal look from one of the Browns’ most disappointing players this season. Fresh off a Pro Bowl season, the Browns were counting on Jeudy to be the veteran leader of a young skill position group this year. He’s produced just 40 catches for 519 yards and two touchdowns on his 89 targets thus far, and sits tied for the NFL lead in dropped passes with 10, per FOX Sports.
Several opposing head coaches and players have talked up Sanders’ performance through his first four-plus games as a pro. After these last few weeks, Browns fans definitely didn’t have some of the best advice coming from Jeudy on their bingo card.
Jerry Jeudy just offered unexpected advice to Shedeur Sanders
These last three starts of the season will be telling for Sanders, but Sunday’s home game against the Buffalo Bills especially. Fans will be itching to see how the 23-year-old responds from easily his worst game as a pro last week in Chicago.
It definitely wasn’t all his fault — Jeudy actually let a potential 24-yard touchdown bounce off his chest and into the arms of Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson for an interception late in the third quarter — but it was a step in the wrong direction nonetheless. Cleveland produced just nine first downs and 192 total yards of offense in the 31-3 loss at Chicago; Sanders took five sacks and finished with three interceptions.
To Jeudy’s credit, he took some accountability this week for his botched touchdown grab, which with a two-point conversion could’ve made it a 10-point game with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter. He also showed some leadership when asked about his young quarterback, and responding to adversity.
“One game don’t define who you are,” Jeudy said. “It’s part of football. Don’t let that dictate how you come out here and practice, and trying to get better each and every week. Just keep being who you are, stay focused, and keep the main thing the main thing.”
At 3-11, these are the types of quotes that Browns fans want to hear. That it’s coming from a veteran player not named Myles Garrett is definitely a positive sign.
Jeudy knows a thing or two about battling through adversity. He was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, but failed to produce to the level of that lofty status. He was shipped off to Cleveland for a pair of Day 3 selections, and immediately produced the first 1,000-yard season of his career.
The rub with Jeudy is pretty straight forward: He’s signed with Cleveland through the 2027 season, and given the guaranteed money still remaining on his 2024 extension with the team, he almost certainly will be on the Browns’ roster through at least the 2026 league year.
In other words, the Browns need this version of Jeudy, the one who builds up the team’s young players, and not the one who berates them for the whole world to see on the sideline.