Shedeur Sanders' lack of accountability will lose him the Browns QB competition

The Cleveland Browns' headache over choosing a starting quarterback is going to continue into the second week of the NFL preseason. Shedeur Sanders had the perfect opportunity to jump ahead of veteran Deshaun Watson during the team's clash with the Chicago Bears but he turned in a forgettable performance.

Sanders threw six completions on 11 attempts for 79 yards and an interception in Cleveland's 34-10 loss on Saturday. It wasn't a terrible display per se but he certainly didn't inspire any confidence in head coach Todd Monken, especially not with how he described his turnover.

What Shedeur Sanders said about his Browns interception

"What'd I see? The right read; it just slipped [out of my hand]," Sanders tried to explain to reporters postgame. "That's what makes me be mad a little bit because of it ... I just didn't execute the decision, but the right decision was made."

Was it, though? On third and eight from near midfield, Sanders chose to lob the ball over the middle of the field -- slip or not -- into an area where even if his receiver had gotten his hands on it, at least two Bears defenders were ready to pounce on him before his feet ever touched the ground. Football is a contact sport but that's putting your receiver in a position to get seriously hurt.

This was an unserious answer by Sanders. All he had to do was say the ball sailed on him and he needs to do better at executing. Period. No nonsense about how well he read the situation, that's for pundits to needlessly discuss on ESPN's First Take the next morning. His job is to get better and focus on winning, not tooting his own horn in a mistake.

Shedeur Sanders lack of maturity could cost him the Browns starting QB job

Before the Shedeur stans -- if they're still reading -- become enraged, Sanders has promise to be a good NFL quarterback. Key word there being "good." He made some dime-like throws during Saturday's contest which has kept him in the conversation with Watson to earn the starting job. It's his attitude that has bled into the rest of his play that will do him in.

Former NFL passer Robert Griffin III wrote an assessment of Sanders' play on X, noting the 24-year-old has the capability to make tough throws but he's not making things easy for his teammates in the process. On a tough pass on third down, Griffin pointed out Sanders "drifting to 12 yards deep off his drop back will drive every O-line men and OL coach crazy because it doesn’t allow the O-Line to set a proper pocket for the QB."

Sanders made the big pass in that situation but if he continues to put his offensive linemen in difficult positions, he's not always going to have the luxury of time to make the throw. That's going to result in multiple sacks and potentially injury. Additionally, his linemen will be thrown under the bus for not protecting him when in reality, his decision to forego proper pocket presence is the real culprit.

Monken isn't going to tip his hand on the leader of the QB competition nor should he. It's tough to determine who the frontrunner is despite Watson's 126-yard performance Saturday. Sanders shows promise as the future but Watson offers somewhat more stability in his final year under contract.

Until Sanders shows he can adapt a more mature style of play -- which he still can over the next two weeks -- it's Watson's job to lose. However, the 30-year-old doesn't have a vice grip on the situation himself. There's a lot more football that needs to be played in Cleveland.

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