Cleveland Browns third-string quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been far from the spotlight so far in his rookie season and it’s a place he is not accustomed to occupying.
Sanders was the talk of much of the offseason and preseason with hotly contested debates over how the Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski was managing him in the Browns’ seemingly open quarterback competition. However, whatever was made of said “competition” it was quickly put to rest as veteran Joe Flacco was named the starter almost as soon as Sanders and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel took snaps in the preseason.
But even though he hasn’t stepped foot on the field, Sanders is still making headlines stepping in front of microphones. This week, he said in the Browns locker room that he could do better than what he currently sees on the field during NFL games.
Was that a shot at the Browns coaching staff? Was that a message to the team that drafted him? Was it merely an expression of confidence in his own abilities? Your interpretation probably depends on your level of Shedeur Sanders fandom.
As for longtime Browns reporter Tony Grossi (who has had previous run-ins with Sanders), he made the argument that the former Colorado star simply can’t help himslef and that he’s been hurting while not being in the spotlight.
“I don’t begrudge any player saying what’s on his mind,” Grossi said. “But you gotta be mindful of what you say, and I think the one quote that, you know, from what I see around the league, ‘I could do better.'”
“Shedeur can’t help himself. He’s been out of the limelight. He’s hurting. And he’s best at giving interviews,” Grossi said.
Host Tony Rizzo interjected, “You see it that way. I see it as I think he really does think he’s better than half the quarterbacks in this league, and I like that. I like that a lot.”
Grossi and company said there was no malice, but there didn’t need to be for the comments to start a bit of a firestorm. It’s very reminiscent of what happened in the preseason where Gabriel said he was a competitor and not an entertainer, which could have also been perceived in very different ways.
But for the foreseeable future, the only thing we can do is hypothesize what kind of NFL quarterback Shedeur Sanders could be, because it’s likely not going to happen in reality anytime soon.
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