CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Shedeur Sanders and Jerry Jeudy were captured by the CBS cameras having a heated exchange on the sidelines of Sunday's 26-8 loss to the 49ers, going over a miscommunication on the Microsoft Surface.
Jeudy claps his hands a few times while explaining what he thought should've happened on a play, and when Sanders gave his version, pointing at the surface, Jeudy appears to be saying "that's wrong. That's wrong."
Center Ethan Pocic stepped in to de-escalate the situation, steering Jeudy away from Sanders, and Sanders shaking his head.
After the game, Sanders explained that it will take some time to get on the same page with the Browns' No. 1 receiver, who's having a down year with all of the quarterback upheaval. With Sanders at the helm, Jeudy has caught 5 of 11 targets for 75 yards, with a long catch of 39 yards last week in Vegas before safety Jeremy Chinn punched it out.
On Sunday, he caught three of four targets for 26 yards, with Sanders taking blame for an overthrown third-down deep ball to a wide open Jeudy on the opening drive.
"When we got in certain passing situations and field position, everything like that, it wasn't the best," Sanders (16 of 25, 149 yards, 3 sacks, one TD, 0 INT, 93.6 rating) said. "It wasn't the best. It was a comfort level. I think as players and as teammates, we have to be able to gel with each other and be comfortable with each other in every situation. That takes time. It takes a lot of things. So this team is not going to be a microwave thing. We're going to have sparks. We're going to have here and there, but it's going to take time to be able to develop that chemistry with everybody, to be on the same page with Jerry."
Sanders is trying to accelerate his development with the Browns top two receivers, Jeudy and Cedric Tillman (0 of 1 targets) but he took his first snaps with the starters just two weeks ago, heading into his first start against the Raiders. Sanders never got first team reps in training camp, and he didn't get any after Dillon Gabriel was promoted to QB1 in Week 5 and Sanders became the backup.
It wasn't until he was named the starter vs. the Raiders that he got his first snaps with the ones, including tight end David Njoku (2 of 2, 4 yards). His comfort level, instead, is with Gage Larvadain, Malachi Corley and the other "Hungry Dawg" backups.
Sanders stressed that "you want to be able to get (Jeudy) the ball, but you've got to understand it's going to take time. I'm more of a trust person and that's just what it boils down to. So we have to spend time on task, with all those guys, and be able to trust and be able to see things at the same lens. A lot of time out there, I would say passing-wise, we're not seeing everything at the same lens or certain guys aren't in the same spot that we seen and practiced. (By) spot, I'm saying, who lined up where. If you're on this side, you’re on this side. We’ve just got to just be comfortable and just make everything consistent."
As for the overthrow on the opening drive, Sanders took full blame.
"I would say overall it's about spending time," Sanders said. "It's about spending time in those situations, and being able to gauge. So all quarterbacks know you've got to cut through the wind whenever you throw. At the same time, you're gauging the speed and time and distance and travel and everything. I was just calculated off. That's all it was. It was just a missed shot. So then when I missed that shot, I've got to stay on myself to keep shooting."
Jeudy, a 1,000-yard receiver last season who earned his first Pro Bowl, has caught only 35 of 80 targets this season for a career-low 43.75% catch rate. He has 421 yards and one TD.
With more time on task with Sanders, Jeudy still has a chance to finish the season strong, and for the two to learn to trust each other.