Sanders named Browns' starting QB for rest of season as decisions about 2-point plays still debated

Not even Shedeur Sanders being named Cleveland's starting quarterback the rest of the season on Monday could quiet the second-guessing about Kevin Stefanski's failed 2-point conversion decisions in the 31-29 loss to Tennessee.

The two conversions on Sunday were poorly executed, and brought up the debate of when does playing it safe with a young roster, especially at the offensive skill positions, win out over analytics?

“I think every decision you make is based on, I mean, you can say analytics, but you know how good the defense is on short yardage, what their percentage is of stopping the other team — the statistics, and use that to make your decisions,” Stefanski said Monday. "And then you look at the matchups and your players versus their players. So I think it’s certainly a tool, and it’s information to take in, but I think there’s so much that goes into decisions when you’re making them. The decision to go for two when you’re down, you know, to start the series at 14, that’s also based on the plays you have available to you, the matchups, those type of things. So I don’t think it’s ever just a black and white picture, if you will.”

Sanders' 5-yard scramble up the middle brought the Browns within 39-31 when Stefanski decided to go for 2 the first time. A successful conversion would have made it a six-point game and meant a touchdown and extra point on an ensuing possession would give them the win.

A missed conversion, though, means a team is chasing points.

Sanders bobbled the snap from backup center Luke Wypler, who was in the game after starter Ethan Pocic was carted off with a season-ending Achilles injury. Titans linebacker Cedric Gray recovered the ball and had a chance to return it for two points, but ran out of gas.

Even though he was working with a new center, Sanders took the blame for the fumble.

With 1:03 remaining, Sanders found Harold Fannin Jr. in the left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard TD to get them within two.

Sanders came off the field for the next 2-point play as running back Quinshon Judkins lined up for a direct snap, something they have done at points throughout the season. Judkins ran right and looked like he might pitch the ball to wide receiver Gage Larvadain on an end around, only for it to end being a busted play. Judkins tried to throw the ball across the field to no avail.

The Browns practiced that play during preseason joint workouts against the Philadelphia Eagles, but Judkins was not on the roster. Cleveland also practices 2-point plays every Friday, including both run on Sunday.

“I think I have to go into every game understanding our team, their team, the matchups, the plays that we have available to us. Ultimately you’re making decisions based on the game that you’re playing and what’s in front of you," Stefanski said.

The failed 2-point plays put Stefanski even more under the microscope, especially losing to a team that had only one win coming into the game.

With the next three games against playoff contenders, the Browns are looking at their second straight 3-14 campaign.

Sanders as the starting quarterback. Through his three starts, Sanders has shown improvement. He had a breakout game on Sunday, passing for 364 yards and three touchdowns, and a rushing score. He joins Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow as the only rookie QBs with at least 350 passing yards, three touchdown passes and one rushing score in a game.

Stefanski is also convinced that Sanders can learn from his mistakes, such as the ill-fated interception in the third quarter where he scrambled and threw a deep pass to the middle of the field where it was picked off by Tennessee's Xavier Woods. The interception would later lead to the Titans scoring the go-ahead touchdown.

“I think he has constantly and consistently gotten better in each one of these games and how he’s approached his game,” Stefanski said. "He’s been working very hard, so I feel good about where his development is heading. He knows there are always going to be plays that he can be better and those types of things, but he’s very intentional about getting better each and every game he’s out there.”

The run defense allowed 5.3 yards per carry as Tennessee's Tony Pollard had a career-high 161 yards. The 184 rushing yards by the Titans is tied for the fourth-most allowed in Jim Schwartz's three years as defensive coordinator.

Harold Fannin Jr. had eight receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. He joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome as the only rookie tight ends in team history to have a 100-yard receiving game. Fannin is also the first Browns rookie with a 100-yard game since 2016.

WR Gage Larvardain fumbled another punt return, his fourth in two games, casting more attention on a special teams unit that has been bad for most of the season. Corey Bojorquez had his second punt blocked and the kick coverage unit continues to struggle.

C Ethan Pocic will have season-ending Achilles surgery. OG Wyatt Teller (calf) will miss his second straight game and OT Jack Conklin remains in concussion protocol. WR Malachi Corley (concussion), TE David Njoku (knee), CB Denzel Ward (calf) and WR Cedric Tillman (concussion) will be evaluated during the week.

7 — Consecutive games in which All-Pro pass rusher Myles Garrett has recorded a sack. It is the longest streak of his career.

19 — Seasons since the Browns returned in 1999 that they have had at least 10 losses.

The Browns head to Chicago to face a Bears squad that lost to Green Bay 28-21 on Sunday and had a five-game winning streak snapped. Cleveland has won the last two meetings in the series, but have dropped four straight when headed to Chicago. Its last win on the road against the the Bears was 1969.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Cleveland Browns' Shedeur Sanders (12) and Teven Jenkins (74) celebrate a touchdown in the first half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski reacts to play in the first half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans in Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

The maker of an iPhone app that flagged sightings of U.S. immigration agents sued the Trump administration for free speech violations on Monday, alleging that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi used her “state power” to force Apple to remove the app.

Apple in October removed ICEBlock and other apps from its app store after Bondi said they put Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at risk by enabling people to track ICE activity in their neighborhoods.

The lawsuit from ICEBlock app maker Joshua Aaron argues that the government's actions violated the First Amendment.

“We’re basically asking the court to set a precedent and affirm that ICEBlock is, in fact, First Amendment-protected speech and that I did nothing wrong by creating it,” Aaron said in an interview Monday. “And to make sure that they can’t do this same thing again in the future.”

Aaron said the other part of the lawsuit “is to basically have them stop threatening myself and my family.”

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to protect the Texas-based software developer from prosecution, alleging “unlawful threats made by Attorney General Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, ICE Acting Director Todd M. Lyons, and White House Border Czar Tom Homan to criminally investigate and prosecute Aaron for his role in developing ICEBlock.”

The Department of Justice said it had no comment on the lawsuit beyond Bondi's previous statements about the app.

With more than 1 million users, ICEBlock was the most widely used of the ICE-tracking apps in Apple’s app store until Bondi said in October that her office reached out to Apple “demanding that they remove ICEBlock” and claiming that it “is designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs.”

Apple soon complied, sending an email to Aaron that said it would block further downloads of the app because new information “provided to Apple by law enforcement” showed the app broke the app store rules.

According to the email, which Aaron shared with The Associated Press in October, Apple said the app violated the company’s policies “because its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group.” Aaron has countered that it works no differently from Apple's own maps app that lets drivers know about nearby police speed traps.

Google also followed Apple in taking down some ICE-tracking apps from its app store in October, though ICEBlock was never available on its Android phone platform.

Aaron said Trump's immigration enforcement initiatives have only grown more aggressive since his app was taken down, and less information makes possible a “paramilitary force that can continue to operate with impunity.” He's repeatedly compared Trump's immigration enforcers to the “Gestapo” secret police force of Nazi Germany, though the lawsuit itself doesn't make that connection, instead drawing on U.S. founders' warnings against domestic despotism.

“I mean, these are people that are wearing masks --- which is the antithesis of everything about this country -- and they are not identifying themselves, and they’re zip-tying children and they’re throwing women into vans,” Aaron said by phone Monday.

Bondi told Fox News earlier this year that Aaron was endangering law enforcement and “giving a message to criminals where our federal officers are. And he cannot do that. And we are looking at it, we are looking at him, and he better watch out, because that’s not protected speech.”

Aaron said he launched the app in April as a way to help immigrant communities protect themselves from surprise raids or potential harassment. Immigrant advocates had mixed feelings about the app's usefulness, but civil liberties experts said efforts to remove it resembled what authoritarian governments have done outside the U.S., such as when Chinese pressure in 2019 led Apple to remove an app that enabled Hong Kong protesters to track police.

Apple, which is not a party in the lawsuit, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about it.

FILE - A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen in Park Ridge, Ill., Sept. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)