Latest news with #ShedeurSanders
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Shedeur Sanders on not getting 1st-team reps with Browns: 'It's not in my control'
With NFL training camps well underway, rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is getting some reps with the Cleveland Browns in practice. Though Sanders has not been working much with the Browns' first-team offense, the rookie says that he's not thinking about it too hard. Sanders is one of four quarterbacks competing for Cleveland's starting job, alongside veteran Joe Flacco, fourth-year player Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. Although all four offer different strengths, Flacco and Pickett have been primarily working with the first team in training camp, while the two rookies work with backups. When asked why he didn't think he was getting first-team reps, Sanders said that he wasn't thinking about that. "That's not my place to answer," Sanders told reporters on Friday, via ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi. "I feel like it's not in my control, so I'm not even gonna think about that or have that even in my thought process." He also emphasized his gratitude to be training with Cleveland at all — a direct contrast to the bluster that seemed to trigger his stunning slide in the NFL draft. "There's a lot of people that wanna have the opportunity to be at this level, and I'm here, and I'm thankful to have the opportunity, so, whatever that is it is," Sanders added. As a result of the abundance of quarterbacks, Sanders has also been spotted practicing with members of the Browns' equipment team. But Sanders said that the targets didn't "faze" him, citing his college career between Jackson State and Colorado. "It doesn't really faze me. You gotta understand, we came all the way from an HBCU to a Power 5 (conference team), and now we here, so," Sanders said, via Oyefusi. "At this point you look around, there's nothing that's a challenge, I would say." Meanwhile, Sanders has other things to deal with as well: The rookie was cited twice for speeding after allegedly driving over 100 miles per hour on a Cleveland highway. But on Friday, Sanders seemed in good spirits on the issue. "I really don't even drive that much anymore," Sanders said with a laugh, via NFL reporter Andrew Siciliano. "I hope everybody learn from my situation, you know, to not drive fast at all." Also, via Siciliano, Sanders misses living near his brother, Shilo — at least partially because he misses Shilo's juicer. Who's in the lead for the Browns' starting QB job? The Browns' quarterback room is one of the oddest in the NFL, and the lack of a clear depth chart is affecting the dynamic. Flacco, despite being the most veteran player in the room, has chafed at the idea of being a mentor to the younger QBs; Gabriel and Sanders, as the two rookies, are trying to find a way to break through. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters this week that all four of the quarterbacks have played well, and that they want to make a decision on who will start "sooner than later." In the meantime, tracking the four players' reps has been an easy way to try and gauge who might end up where on Cleveland's quarterback list. Drills this week have featured a rotation — Flacco, Pickett, Gabriel, Sanders — that points to the potential order. Additionally, in seven-on-seven practices on Wednesday (the Browns' first day of camp), Sanders was the only player to miss more than one of his throws, going 3-for-8. That performance may have something to do with why he's not getting as many first-team reps.
Fox News
5 minutes ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Dave Wannstedt on Caleb Williams' struggles, Nick Saban. Shedeur Sanders FULL INTERVIEW
Dave Wannstedt joins Colin Cowherd to discuss Caleb Williams' struggles in minicamp, whether or not Nick Saban will head to the NFL, and if the Cleveland Browns should start Shedeur Sanders.
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Shedeur Sanders on not getting first-team reps with Browns in training camp: 'It's not in my control'
With NFL training camps well underway, rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders is getting some reps with the Cleveland Browns in practice. Though Sanders has not been working much with the Browns' first-team offense, the rookie says that he's not thinking about it too hard. Sanders is one of four quarterbacks competing for Cleveland's starting job, alongside veteran Joe Flacco, fourth-year player Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. Although all four offer different things, Flacco and Pickett have been primarily working with the first team in training camp, while the two rookies work with backups. When asked why he didn't think he was getting first-team reps, Sanders said that he wasn't thinking about that. "That's not my place to answer," Sanders told reporters on Friday, via ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi. "I feel like it's not in my control, so I'm not even gonna think about that or have that even in my thought process." He also emphasized his gratitude to be training with Cleveland at all — a direct contrast to the bluster that seemed to trigger his stunning slide in the NFL draft. "There's a lot of people that wanna have the opportunity to be at this level, and I'm here, and I'm thankful to have the opportunity, so, whatever that is it is," Sanders added. As a result of the abundance of quarterbacks, Sanders has also been spotted practicing with members of the Browns' equipment team. But Sanders said that the targets didn't "faze" him, citing his meandering college career between Jackson State and Colorado. "It doesn't really faze me. You gotta understand, we came all the way from an HBCU to a Power 5 (conference team), and now we here, so," Sanders said, via Oyefusi. "At this point you look around, there's nothing that's a challenge, I would say." Meanwhile, Sanders has other things to deal with as well: The rookie was cited for speeding in June after allegedly driving over 100 miles per hour on a Cleveland highway. But on Friday, Sanders seemed in good spirits on the issue. "I really don't even drive that much anymore," Sanders said with a laugh, via NFL reporter Andrew Siciliano. "I hope everybody learn from my situation, you know, to not drive fast at all." Also, via Siciliano, Sanders misses living near his brother, Shilo — at least partially because he misses Shilo's juicer. Who's in the lead for the Browns' starting QB job? The Browns' quarterback room is one of the oddest in the NFL, and the lack of a clear depth chart is affecting the dynamic. Flacco, despite being the most veteran player in the room, has chafed at the idea of being a mentor to the younger QBs; Gabriel and Sanders, as the two rookies, are trying to find a way to break through. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters this week that all four of the quarterbacks have played well, and that they want to make a decision on who will start "sooner than later." In the meantime, tracking the four players' reps has been an easy way to try and gauge who might end up where on Cleveland's quarterback list. Drills this week have featured a rotation — Pickett, Flacco, Gabriel, Sanders — that points to the potential order. Additionally, in seven-on-seven practices on Wednesday (the Browns' first day of camp), Sanders was the only player to miss more than one of his throws, going 3-for-8. That performance may have something to do with why he's not getting as many first-team reps.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cleveland Browns training camp preview 2025
Training camp in the NFL is all about fighting for position. There are those fighting for starting jobs, and those fighting for roster spots. The Browns, like the other 31 NFL teams, will have both when they start training camp in a couple of weeks. That includes the biggest of them all — a battle royale between four quarterbacks to be the starter when Cleveland opens the regular season against the Cincinnati Bengals. Some of the camp battles aren't necessarily as high profile as the one at quarterback. That's the nature of training-camp battles. Here's a look at three to watch when the Browns open training camp. And, yes, it starts with the big one. Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders at QB What hasn't already been said about this competition? The reality is that it may really be two separate competitions that merge into one. There's a strong sense that it will be either Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett who ultimately starts against the Bengals, although one of the two rookies — Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders — certainly could emerge as a major challenger for the job. The question at the start of camp will be how will Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees set up reps for the competition and how will it vary from the way it went during minicamp and OTAs? The joint practices against both the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles, a total of three, will also be telling. Those joint practices, plus the three preseason games, will be ample opportunities for all four quarterbacks to get competitive reps against players other than their defensive teammates. Diontae Johnson, David Bell, Kaden Davis, Michael Woods II, others at WR Jerry Jeudy is a "well, duh" member of the wide receiving corps. Cedric Tillman and Jamari Thrash might as well be in that category. DeAndre Carter seems like a lock as much because of his ability to return kicks and punts as anything. That means there are two to four spots potentially remaining for others to grab. It's just a matter of who those players will be. There are former draft picks David Bell and Michael Woods II, who have been hampered by injuries and spent time last season on the practice squad and will be fighting to make the roster. There will be practice squad holdover Kaden Davis, who had a solid offseason program. There are undrafted rookies Gage Larvadain and Luke Floriea, who opened some eyes during May and June. Then, of course, there's Diontae Johnson, the former Pro Bowler who's trying to keep his NFL career alive. That's the pool from which the Browns will try to fill out those final positions, a group that should continue to benefit from all of the reps the four quarterbacks will require in training camp. Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka at DE opposite Myles Garrett The Browns' aggressive defensive front scheme lends itself to multiple players rotating through, so this is far from equal to a quarterback competition where one man emerges. In fact, a high-level camp battle between Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round pick Joe Tryon-Shoyinka can only serve to benefit the Browns in the long run because of the options it gives them. The better the camp battle among these three, the better the defense has a chance to be because of what it means for their depth in the pass rush. It would also mean creating a legitimate pass rush threat to line up opposite All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett. Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@ Read more about the Browns at Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns QB position battle tops 2025 training camp competitions
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Browns QB competition finds 'forever home' on social media, even during offseason break
BEREA — Joe Flacco remembers what social media was like when he arrived in Baltimore as the Ravens' first-round pick in 2008. "I think Twitter started right around '07, '08," Flacco said during Browns minicamp on June 11. "I came in '08. I can remember the first time I walked into the cafeteria in Baltimore and somebody was like, 'Hey, you mind if we tweet this?' And nobody knew what that meant." Flacco returned to Cleveland in April, at which time everyone knew about Twitter, only now, it's called X. Not only is the social media platform ubiquitous to everyone inside the Browns facility, it and others like it are ubiquitous to everyone outside of the facility as well. Although not everyone uses X or Instagram or whatever, enough do that it can appear to have an impact on the lens through which progress is assessed. Browns rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel called it the "Amazon lifestyle" or a "microwave mentality," and fellow rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders spoke of a "mindset" that needs to be adjust to "understand the situation." All of it, however, centers around how the Browns' quarterback competition involving Flacco, Gabriel, Sanders and Kenny Pickett is being framed outside the organization. 'Yeah, I think probably the biggest difference nowadays is social media, I would expect," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said during minicamp June 11. "Listen, the news cycle is 365 days a year and there's a lot of content and there's a lot of hours to fill, as you guys all well know. So, and also we understand how popular our sport is, how interested our fans are in our sport. So, we embrace that. We like that part. "Having said that, once we get inside the building, we really do focus on where our feet are. We focus that we're here. We focus on what we have in front of us. And I think all of our players have done a great job of understanding that.' That includes the player whose presence in the competition has generated the most social media impressions of any of them. Sanders arrived in Cleveland with millions of social media followers, which translates into a rather large group of supporters interested in his daily affairs, on and off the field. Many of those followers are the same ones who thought before the 2025 NFL Draft Sanders would be a top-five pick, and claimed various conspiracies were behind his fall to the fifth round, where the Browns selected him. Now that he's with a team, they have made it clear of their disapproval over any news not definitively calling him the future starter. Sanders, while not directly addressing his social media followers, has been much more in the moment when he's been asked about anything down the road. "My goal is to be the best teammate and to be as positive as I can be," Sanders said at minicamp June 10. "So in every aspect, I view things as I got time. I got time to be able to grow and mature and be able to understand the ins and outs of the defenses and be able to get the good insight from the vets in the room. "So I look at it as a plus. I got time to actually be able to really have a great understanding, and whenever it's time for me to play, then it's time for me to play. But I'm not looking too far in the future about all that." The reality of the Browns' quarterback situation is that whoever does start the regular-season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals may not be the starter when the regular season ends against the Bengals in Cincinnati. There may even be more than two starters before the season comes to an end, if the recent past predicts anything about the future. For now, the quarterback situation would best be viewed not as a four-for-one-spot fight, but as two separate two-man competitions, with Flacco and Pickett in one and the two rookies in the other. Everything that has transpired to this point with regards to that competition validates this may be the best way to look at things, even as everyone involved says to not look at much of anything. "We're so far away from that type of thought process," Stefanski said. "Honestly, we're in our installation phase. It's the off season, it's OTAs, so we're going to keep the focus there. Once you get into training camp, of course you're getting ready to play games and ultimately getting ready for playing the season. But right now that's not our focus.' The Browns could control the environment much more during the offseason program, in part because so much of it was closed off from prying eyes. They only allowed the media to watch two OTAs and three minicamp practices, and the fans weren't allowed in for anything. Training camp will be different. All of the camp practices will be open to the media, including three total joint practices at the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles, and fans will be able to watch them over a certain number of practices in Berea, as well as all three preseason games. Until then, however, the battle for the quarterback job will continue to be waged daily. Only it won't happen in the meeting rooms or practice fields, but in various corners of social media. It's a far cry from Flacco's rookie year in Baltimore. "The difference now is everybody's getting their stuff from there and it's treated a little bit more seriously because that is the main news source," Flacco said. "But you still have the same thing you always had, which is a million different opinions. So it kind of blends your actual news source with a bunch of other stuff. "And now I think we live in this world where just like everything you see on there, there's a good portion of people that are taking whatever you see on there very seriously. … I won't even download it on my phone just because I know it's a trap to just get sucked in." Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@ Read more about the Browns at Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Social media gives offseason theater for Browns QB battle to be waged
