Shedeur Sanders started the Browns' first game of the preseason, which inspired quite a bit of conversation during the week. While some people thought that Sanders was being set up to fail, well, that didn't matter because he performed pretty well on Friday night.
Sanders looked comfortable in the pocket, showed an ability to both scramble and slide safely, and threw two touchdown passes. Whatever he was set up to do, he succeeded as Cleveland's starting quarterback on Friday night. And, as usual, he had people talking on social media.
Most people loved Sanders's debut. First and foremost, his father, Deion Sanders tweeted after both his touchdown passes.
Oh yeah what now! #CoachPrime
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) August 9, 2025
LeBron James also tweeted encouragement, and told anyone pointing out it was a preseason game he didn't want to hear about it.
That young 🤴🏾 looking good out there! @ShedeurSanders Keep going UP!!! HEAD down on the grind and HEAD high to the most high 🙌🏾🫡
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 9, 2025
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 ass about it! So give credit and grace lames. 🤷🏾♂️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 9, 2025
ESPN's Kendrick Perkins pointed out how big the preseason game felt because of Sanders, and suggested he had the most star power he'd seen in a Cleveland rookie since LeBron James.
Shedeur got a preseason game feeling like a playoff opener. Like I said, most star power for a Rookie in Cleveland since Lebron!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) August 8, 2025
The professional football media world was also impressed.
There’s your wow play from Shedeur Sanders. Nice pocket reset.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 9, 2025
Also a plus for his night: One sack. Browns will be pretty pleased with that.
pic.twitter.com/GU4trklCe5
Nice little pocket movement there Shedeur
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) August 9, 2025
.@Browns @ShedeurSanders TRUSTS his protection; simple slide to his right and then "whip it...whip it real good!" TD. #dawgpound #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/4HDvzEegxP
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 9, 2025
Shadeur Sanders is showing up. The way he has navigated the pocket and been in control of the operational functioning of the offense has been impressive. Both TD passes have been on point as well
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) August 9, 2025
What’s crazy is, as good as Shedeur is playing, the critics will say “Yeah well against a bunch of Panther backups”.. without acknowledging he’s ALSO doing this with backups.
— Elle Duncan (@elleduncanESPN) August 9, 2025
All-in-all, a pretty solid start for Sanders. If nothing else, he played so well Cleveland has to give him more practice reps and treat this like a real quarterback competition.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Social Media Reacts to Shedeur Sanders’s Strong NFL Debut.
