The Cleveland Browns are 5-4 on the regular season heading into Week 10, the team's final game before heading into their Week 11 bye.

After Shedeur Sanders got the Week 9 start against the New Orleans Saints and nearly helped lead them to another late-game comeback victory, the Browns fell to the Saints on the road in Sanders' only start of 2026.

He could get another chance to start, but according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, that's not coming in Week 10. The Browns are reportedly dropping Sanders back down the depth chart and starting Deshaun Watson in Week 10 against the Houston Texans.

Browns drop Shedeur Sanders back down QB depth chart for Week 10

"Breaking: Deshaun Watson will start Sunday vs. the Texans over Shedeur Sanders," Cabot reported Wednesday morning.

This news isn't a huge surprise, as there had been previous reporting indicating the Browns were going to return to Watson as the Week 10 starter.

But now, with this report, it's clear the Browns are dropping Sanders back down the depth chart after his near comeback against the Saints in Week 9.

In the loss to the Saints, Sanders went 19 of 31 passing for 297 yards and two touchdowns, including a 64-yarder to rookie wide receiver KC Concepcion.

Watson hasn't had a game that good all season; his only yardage performances are better than Sanders's, but without any passing touchdowns, and his only two-TD games have fewer passing yards.

But even though Sanders impressed in Week 9, the Browns are dropping him down the depth chart to stick by Watson as their starter, which isn't a surprise.

Watson missed Week 9 due to a concussion. Todd Monken was never likely to stick with Sanders once Watson was good to go, as teams typically don't bench a player after they missed a week due to injury.

For the Browns, this is a good situation, as they now have confidence in Sanders if they need to bench Watson because of poor play or if he misses more time due to injury.

Sanders showed enough in Week 9 for the Browns to consider starting him going forward, but until Watson struggles or gets hurt, he'll remain as QB2 for Cleveland, starting in Week 10 against the Texans.