🏈 Browns vs. Panthers Preseason Game 1 Preview: QB Battle Begins

Posted By: County Sports Network August 7, 2025

Browns vs. Panthers: Preseason Opener Details

🏈 Browns vs. Panthers: Preseason Week 2 Preview

🗓 Date: Friday, August 8, 2025
🕖 Time: 7:00 PM ET
📍 Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
📺 TV: WEWS News 5 (Cleveland)
📲 Streaming: NFL+ (national)

What to Watch For in Preseason Game 1

Quarterback Battle Heats Up
Veteran Jameis Winston may get the ceremonial start, but all eyes will be on rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. Expect both to get extended reps as the Browns evaluate their future under center.

Elijah Moore’s Expanded Role
Moore is expected to play a bigger role in the offense this year. His timing and chemistry with each quarterback could offer a preview of what’s to come this fall.

Depth on the Defensive Line
While Myles Garrett headlines the defense, keep an eye on emerging players like Zion Carter and Alex Wright. The Browns will test their depth against Carolina’s second-string offense.

Special Teams Battle
The kicker competition between Cade York and rookie Jake Moody is in full swing. With new kickoff rules debuting, expect special teams to take on added importance.

Debut of Brian Johnson’s Offense
New offensive coordinator Brian Johnson brings a fresh system to Cleveland. This game will offer the first look at his play-calling rhythm, formations, and personnel groupings — even in a vanilla setup.

A Reason to be Excited by Steve King

The first time I ever saw the Browns in person was on Aug. 22, 1964, in one of the annual preseason contests they played at the Rubber Bowl in Akron for their first 25 years.

The team that, in Blanton Collier’s second year as head coach, went on to win the NFL championship, blew out the Pittsburgh Steelers 42-7. The highlight of the night was when Browns quarterback Frank Ryan threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Clifton “Sticks” McNeil. When I brought all that up to McNeil years later in a phone interview, he screamed in delight. We talked about it for 10 minutes.

The Browns and Steelers that evening used mostly their starters, all of whom played hard. It was, in many ways, just like a regular-season game, only it didn’t count in the standings. That’s the way all the pro football teams did preseason back then.

It’s much different now. The starters play sparingly in the entirety of the preseason, which makes these games about as hard to watch as NBA regular-season games, episodes of “The View” and pickle ball matches.

Ugh.

But Browns fans will get a reprieve — and in a significant way — on Friday night as rookie quarterback Shadeur Sanders gets the start in the preseason opener against the host Carolina Panthers.

That’s a reason to not just watch — but to do so very closely — the game and, in particular, the most polarizing rookie in the NFL this season. I like this kid. I really, truly do. Whatever the “it” factor is, he has it.

There are a lot of people — including, unfortunately, some in the highest tiers of the Browns organization — who have already written Sanders off. That fact makes me like him just that much more. You go, young man.

I keep going back to the Colorado pro day that was held in the weeks leading up to the NFL Draft. Included in the many scouts, personnel people, coaches and even owners in attendance was Browns General Manager Andrew Berry. After watching Sanders and Travis Hunter, then playing wide receiver, light it up play after play after play, the usually mundane and reserved Berry, in the most pronounced public display of emotion he has ever exhibited since he arrived in Cleveland, said excitedly, and somewhat loudly, “I wish I could have both of them!”

Berry actually could have had both of them had he not traded out of the No. 2 overall pick. But he ended up with one of them, though not of his own volition.

Hey, man, you had better be rooting — hard — for Sanders tonight and thereafter. He might just end up saving your job.

READ NEXT: Cleveland Browns Fan Favorites

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