Shedeur Sanders doesn’t want his dad showing up to practice. We all remember the circus that was the draft. What was meant to be a crowning moment for the former Colorado QB turned into a humbling, drama-filled day. Deion Sanders even called the whole event “some foolish stuff.” The rookie doesn’t want any of that during training camp. No attention. No distractions. It’s time to clock in. “I got work to do but I’m going to put in this work,” he said.

But his work only amounts to what he can do when it’s game time. And that time is here as Shedeur will open the Browns’ preseason account against the Panthers today. Stefanski chose him as one of the two QBs who will play. “Browns HC Kevin Stefanski: “We’ll rest some starters. We’ll play Shedeur at QB. We’ll get (Tyler Huntley) back up to speed. It’s a great opportunity for all of our young players,” reported 92.3 The Fan. This moment marks the beginning of Shedeur Sanders’ journey. Will he forge a new identity in the NFL, or fade into memory as just another “what if” story?

It’s an opportunity to prove the doubters wrong. The former Super Bowl champion took to X to emphasize how important this game is. “We all have needs & we all desire Opportunity! If given opportunity, u may not be where u are now. Opportunity is like the dream we had when we were younger. We must be prepared for the opportunity we’re praying for. The right opportunity will change your life. #CoachPrime” Translation? The time is now for Shedeur to show his worth. The preseason game against the Panthers isn’t just another mark on the schedule. It can define the makings of a franchise quarterback in Sanders. And boy, has he been ready for this moment.

The fifth-round pick had been turning heads during camp. Calm and collected, even in the challenge of meeting the first team defense with a backup offense. “Truthfully, I don’t care what O-line I go out there with. It could be ones, twos, threes, whatever the situation is. And I know Friday when the game is, if I’m with twos, if I’m with threes. It don’t matter to me. I’m just ready to get down and get to doing what I could,” he said. One thing’s for certain: Shedeur is not backing down from this challenge.

Shedeur Sanders has the preseason keys!

The Browns didn’t have Sanders in their pre-draft plans. “We didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round,” said GM Andrew Berry. It was an unexpected acquisition, and the Browns got an extra QB in hand. Right now, they may be glad they did so. After all, with Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel injured, Stefanski had to move around names in his QB depth chart.

And handing Shedeur the QB1 mantle against the Panthers might not have been a hard decision, either. Because the Browns #12 has earned his right. Through first 12 days of camp, he had almost 71% completion (56 of 79). He threw for 6 TDs for no picks. That’s some A-level gameplay. And he receives the reward.

“With all things depth chart, certainly quarterback, I have a plan that’s in pencil,” Stefanski said. “We have to take in information every day, take in how guys are handling certain situations and adjust from there. We’ll get to those types of decisions later on.” And one of those decisions has Shedeur at the top ahead of the game today. He was at the tail end a few days ago. Getting reps only with the second and third team.

With Stefanski opting to play his backups and younger players today, Shedeur won’t be coming into the game blind. As the situation stands at the moment, with Gabriel and Pickett out, we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the weeks ahead. Which means that he will need to get reps in with the first team eventually. The longer he spends working exclusively with the reserves, the steeper the climb will be if he’s thrust into a starting role.