Rich on Shedeur Possibly Starting for the Browns with Deshaun Watson in Concussion Protocol

The moment Browns fans were waiting for in September may finally arrive in November. With Deshaun Watson in the concussion protocol, Shedeur Sanders is taking first-team reps, and Rich laid out on The Rich Eisen Show exactly how it got here and what's waiting in New Orleans.

The timeline is unusual. Jaquan Brisker lit up Watson in Sunday's game, and Watson had to come out to be checked for a concussion. Sanders played a snap or two, then Watson returned after being cleared. He had no symptoms after the game and none on Monday. Then on Tuesday, he said he wasn't feeling great.

Todd Monken credited his quarterback for speaking up. "Credit to Deshaun," Monken said. "After the game felt fine. Monday night started feeling a little bit of a headache and came in Tuesday and reported it. So credit to him for someone who really loves playing the game." Then the news: "Shedeur will take the reps today with the ones."

"All right, kid," Rich said. "Let's see what you got."

Sanders sounded like someone who refuses to get swept up in it. "I had a lot of ups and downs in my life so far, even though I'm only like 24. So I tend to not even get really too excited when it comes to things," he said. "I've always been very relaxed. So I ain't really trying to ride the roller coaster life. I like to keep everything even."

Rich was straight about the context. "This is exactly what Browns fans wanted going into the season," he said. Everyone assumed it would happen by Week 3, given how Watson was received in the preseason. Instead, Watson played extremely well in Week 2, earned a Week 3 start at home, and has the Browns at 5-3, pulling "a lot of frying pans out of the fire" and, in Rich's words, turning into Tim Tebow in the fourth quarter after struggling for three. That didn't happen against the Steelers, who just beat him up.

Now comes the kid, it seems, in New Orleans, and Rich warned that's no easy place to play. He shared a story about watching recent night games in Seattle with one of his kids, who asked whether Seattle is the loudest place in the NFL. Outdoors, Rich said, that's in the conversation with Arrowhead and Denver. Indoors, though, one place stands out: "That Superdome is loud." It won't be a night game, but Rich noted there's plenty of fuel taken in throughout the day.

Monken sounded genuinely thrilled. "I can't wait. This is so cool," he said. "If it goes that way, then he gets a great opportunity to go play, and for us to see him go play." He noted the team would be practicing indoors because of the rain and said he couldn't wait "to see him let it rip today and see where we're at." He pointed to the depth Cleveland built. "That's why he got a ton of reps in fall camp," Monken said. "When we opened it up as a competition, he got a ton of those reps."

"I love this guy," Rich said. He recalled talking to Monken two weeks ago, when the coach marveled at how great it is being a coach in the NFL and getting to hand out game balls. "That's consistent. That's Todd Monken," came the verdict on set.

The stakes are clear. The Steelers just beat Cleveland up, the Bengals are coming on strong, and the Ravens are starting a third-string quarterback. If the Browns win in New Orleans, they're 6-3, having won two-thirds of the first half of their schedule. And if Sanders plays well, Monken might have a first-class problem with Houston coming to town, because, as Rich said, "You know Watson's going to want to play that game."