​NEW ORLEANS ― The Browns’ trip to New Orleans to play the Saints was always going to be a critical swing game just ahead of the trade deadline.So, of course, the Browns added a little bit extra spice to the affair. As they’d say in Louisiana, a little “lagniappe,” or extra thrown on top.Ladies and gentleman, Shedeur Sanders will be starting at quarterback for the Browns. You can almost hear Emeril Lagasse saying, “Bam!”Subscribe to Browns Insider newsletterThat might be a little over the top, especially since the reason for the move was injury-based. Deshaun Watson spent the week in concussion protocol after complaining of symptoms two days after a helmet-to-helmet hit early in a Week 8 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.”Yeah, I mean, Shaun had a good start of the season,” right tackle Tytus Howard said. “But Shedeur’s been putting in work all season, waiting for the opportunity to come and help the team win games, man. So it’s unfortunate that Shaun’s out, but we got the utmost confidence Shedeur’ll come in and step up as needed.”Watson returned to practice Nov. 6. However, by that point, it had reached the point of no return in the direction they were going.Sanders will now make his first start of the season with the Browns firmly in the midst of trying to remain in the AFC North race. The 27-6 loss to the 6-2 Steelers knocked them from first place all the way to third at 5-3, with the Cincinnati Bengals sitting between the two rivals at 5-2.All of those wins were with Watson at the controls, leading the Browns to five fourth-quarter comebacks, four in the final two minutes. Sanders wasn’t going to take any credit for anything he may have done to help his fellow quarterback.”I would say how I’ve been able to help him, I would say he’s a vet,” Sanders said. “So if he has any questions, he got another set of eyes that can validate certain things. But I think that’s just something for him to speak on. I don’t really want to input what I’d have done because then I’ll be taking the credit, you know what I’m saying? That don’t make sense.”Whatever happens in New Orleans, though, will certainly have Sanders’ fingerprints all over it. He started the final seven games of his rookie season, with moments of intrigue in his performance, both good and bad, capped by a season-ending game-winning field goal drive to beat the Bengals.The question will be how much has the week of practice helped Sanders really knock the rust off? He hadn’t received significant practice reps with the No. 1s, or any group outside of the scout team, since Watson was named the starter Aug. 24.Browns coach Todd Monken said he was pleased with what he saw from Sanders during the three days of practice. He said he saw a quarterback who took strides even while not getting all that work, which his teammates agreed with.”I thought he did a good job,” tight end Blake Whiteheart said. “I mean, I think operation, Coach has been harping on that these last few weeks, and especially going