SHEDEUR SANDERS is facing the possibility of being further frozen out at the Cleveland Browns.

The prospect was expected to step up into the backup quarterback role after the departure of Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski has put doubt on those chances after he was asked about the role on Wednesday.

He has Sanders, 23, and practice squad quarterback Bailey Zappe to pick from following the trade to bring in Flacco.

Stefanski also has the option of another rookie in Dillon Gabriel who is on the active roster.

When asked about the backup role it appeared that Sanders is not the favourite to take it up.

Stefanski said: “Let the week play out [and] make a decision later.

“All roster-type of things, I always have to be mindful of our players and our players’ development.

“And I want to make sure that I’m always doing what’s best for our players and, of course, our team.

“But with young players, I’m always thinking about – last week, making the change to Dillon, you have to think long and hard about that.

“Because these are young players that you are so invested in their development.

“So, I’ll let the week play out [and] make a decision later.”

Stefanski also refused to confirm whether or not Zappe would be moved into the active roster.

This would allow one of the backups to serve as the inactive emergency quarterback position.

He added: “Need to work through it all. Again, really like the guys we have.

“We just got to work through all it.”

Despite the uncertainty over Sanders he has been praised for his work ethic by Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.

He said: “[He is] doing whatever the coaches ask of him.

“He’s been doing a great job of being a pro and doing what he needs to do to be able to, once he gets his chance, to take advantage of it.

“That’s all we can ask for him to do: Once he gets his opportunity, just take advantage of it.”