Shedeur Sanders and Kevin Stefanski explain Browns wristband malfunction vs. Bears

The Cleveland Browns are 3-11 and they can’t do much right.

Including sending their starting quarterback onto the field with an adequate playsheet on his wristband.

Shedeur Sanders had trouble communicating with his offensive huddle during the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears. He ran to the sideline to get the play directly from head coach Kevin Stefanski and got charged for a delay of game penalty.

After the penalty, Sanders had to swap wristbands, leaving the FOX broadcast booth puzzled.

Sanders and Stefanski were peppered with questions following the loss about what went wrong with the wristband.

"They removed his wristband and made some changes to the play calls."

The Browns gave Shedeur the wrong wristband??? pic.twitter.com/VUOxeQkyNC
— Jonathan Smith (@DegenerateTBone) December 14, 2025

“There was a miscommunication early,” Stefanski said. “The wristband got something on it or whatever it was...we got that fixed pretty quickly."

In lock step with his head coach, Sanders also downplayed the wristband incident.

“The card just fell out. It just fell out on the sideline,” Sanders said after the loss. “That was it."

For many, the wristband mix up marks yet another moment of dysfunction for this football team. The Browns opened the game allowing a 52-yard kick return. But Cleveland’s defense stood tall, causing a Bears punt.

Chicago downed their punt at the one-yard line. Stefanski’s challenge was unsuccessful, costing the Browns a timeout on their first drive of the game. Then, rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. was flagged for a false start, the Browns were flagged for too many men on offense and they punted, setting the Bears up with great field position.

While the Browns have not actively tried to set Sanders up to fail, they have done very little to help their fifth-round quarterback.

The Browns started their ninth different offensive line unit of the season, and right guard Teven Jenkins could not reach the finish line of Week 15’s loss due to a shoulder injury. However, the team had their fourth-best passblocking day.

Field position ultimately decided this game, as Cleveland’s special teams unit can’t tackle kick or punt returns. The Browns talented defense faced short fields all day long.

Sanders and Stefanski have three games remaining in the regular season to try and get on the same page. Pressure is undoubtedly mounting, as the Browns only have three victories and plenty of uncertainties heading into next season.

Their next opportunity to get things figured out will happen at Huntington Bank Field against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.