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Daniel Oyefusi
BEREA, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders said he’s not thinking about the limited practice reps he’s received as the Cleveland Browns’ four-way quarterback competition is underway in training camp.
Sanders was regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL draft before surprisingly falling to the fifth round, where Cleveland took him with the 144th pick. He has seemingly been QB4 on the depth chart behind veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, who was selected in the third round.
Sanders is the lone quarterback who has not been seen taking reps with the first-team offense in the offseason workout program and through the first two training camp practices.
“I don’t think that’s my place to answer, to give the answer to that,” Sanders said Friday when asked why he thinks he isn’t getting reps with the first-team offense. “I feel like that it’s not in my control, so I’m not going to think about that or even have that in my thought process of why it is. There’s a lot of people who want to have the opportunity to be at this level, and I’m here and I’m thankful to have the opportunity. So, whenever that is, that is.”
He added: “It doesn’t make me feel down or left out because I know who I am as a person. I know who I am as an individual and I know what I could bring to this team. So, I can never feel less than any circumstance.”
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said the quarterback rotation would be fluid during the first week of training camp before reassessing the order for Week 2. On Wednesday, Pickett took all of the first-team snaps in 11-on-11 drills and on Thursday, Pickett and Flacco split the first-team reps in team drills. On Friday, Flacco, Pickett and Gabriel all split reps with the first-team offense during team drills. Sanders mainly worked with the third-team offense but got one session working with the second-team offense during the final set of 11-on-11 drills.
“I don’t know if there’ll be any earth-shattering or earth-shaking changes [in the second week of camp],” quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave said Friday. “I think it’ll be a lot more of the same. All four guys are really making good progress and [offensive coordinator] Tommy [Rees] and Kevin are doing a great job of getting everybody their looks.”
With a wide receiver room that has been stretched thin because of four quarterbacks needing reps, Sanders has thrown passes at times to members of the equipment staff as the last in line for individual drills. Sanders, though, said he’s unaffected by it.
“It doesn’t really faze me,” said Sanders, the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. “We came all the way from an HBCU to a Power 5 and now we’re here. So at this point, if you look there’s nothing that’s a challenge, I would say.”
Sanders also commented on the two offseason speeding tickets he received in Cleveland, saying he hopes “everyone learns from my situation to not drive fast at all.”