It was the most anticipated debut of the season. It was far from the best debut.

Rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders came off the bench Nov. 16 to play the entire second half for the Browns in a 23-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He was thrust into action after starter Dillon Gabriel sustained a concussion late in the first half, which led to Cleveland finally turning to the fifth-round draft pick out of Colorado.

Coach Kevin Stefanski has indicated Gabriel will start again once he clears concussion protocol. However, it is not expected that it happens in time for a Nov. 23 game at the Las Vegas Raiders, which would open the door for Sanders to make his first start.

Whether or not Sanders starts against the Raiders, the performance in one half against the Ravens certainly leaves questions that need to be answered whenever his next appearance occurs. That could be in less than a week (as expected), or it could be a month from now.

Here are the questions for Sanders to answer with his performance:

Can Shedeur Sanders get rid of the football faster?

The single biggest criticism of Sanders coming out of Colorado, and continuing through the preseason, was how he held onto the football too long.

Yes, there were sacks he took both in college and in his two preseason and one regular-season NFL appearances that were based on his offensive line. However, it’s painfully obvious how much time it takes for him to get rid of the football. Even his best throw of the night, a 25-yarder to Harold Fannin Jr., featured a brief hesitation before delivering the throw in a little more than three seconds’ time.

According to Pro Football Focus, Sanders time to throw was 3.31 seconds, which is entirely too long to be holding onto the ball. Which gets to the next question …

Can Shedeur Sanders stand in the pocket and deliver?

Sanders’ accuracy — the singular trait everyone points to when evaluating the rookie — works best when it’s coupled with delivering the ball from the pocket. Of course, there’s going to be pressure applied, whether it’s the Ravens, the Raiders or whomever else it may be. That’s what opponents aim to do, especially when facing a rookie quarterback.

Instead of running backward and corkscrewing away from the line of scrimmage, what Sanders has to improve on is decisively either throwing the ball away or just taking off and running. In his one preseason start against the Carolina Panthers, that was something Sanders did much better as the game went along. Instead of running all over the place trying to get away from the pressure, losing big yardage in the process, he started to play from within the pocket, moving around in it instead of away from it. It was noticeable in the moment.

If Sanders does start against Las Vegas, it will be interesting to see how he improves in that aspect as the game goes along.

Can Shedeur Sanders show that practice reps actually translate into game?

The largest part of the Sanders dialogue from day one has been about reps in practice, which were physically tracked by members of the media, including your truly, during training camp.

Once the season began as Sanders worked his way from the No. 3 quarterback to the backup, it was an almost-weekly question about the reps he was getting, who he was getting them with and on and on. That’s even though multiple former NFL backup quarterbacks, including former Browns quarterback Luke McCown, have taken to different platforms to let everyone know that expecting a whole lot of practice reps as a backup just doesn’t happen.

Well, it seems likely that Sanders is going to get his practice reps with the No. 1s this week, at least for the first part of the week. It has to show on the field during the game.