ideo circulating on social media shows Shedeur Sanders confronting a Cleveland Browns beat reporter following Friday’s 30-10 win against the Carolina Panthers.
Sanders passed for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win, playing the majority of the game. His primary competitors for the starting job in Cleveland — Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Kenny Pickett — were inactive for the preseason opener.
After his breakout performance, Sanders ran into Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland and let his feelings out.
“Tony, I be hoping you have something positive to say about me. You always say negative stuff about me. I’ve never seen you say anything positive about me. And I’m like, ‘I ain’t done nothing to you,'” Sanders said before cracking a smile and walking away. “What did I do!”
In Grossi’s defense, he did have something good to say after Sanders’ strong preseason outing.
“I thought Shedeur was outstanding,” Grossi said during an appearance on ESPN Cleveland following the game.
Grossi — a longtime journalist covering the Browns in Cleveland — is no stranger to confrontations with quarterbacks in Cleveland. He famously clashed with Baker Mayfield multiple times during the No. 1 overall pick’s tenure with the Browns.
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders Focused on Making ‘Change’ in Cleveland
Sanders slid in the draft from a projected early first-round pick to the fifth round. He’s the No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart but Sanders has been focused on being a catalyst for positive change in Cleveland. He felt like he accomplished that goal with his first preseason start.
“Me coming here, my vow is to definitely make change and change was made,” Sanders said. “I was very thankful, very excited being out there, being out there with the O-line and everything like that, I was so thankful being out there with them, receivers and everybody did their part and I feel like everybody believed.”
Sanders had a high-profile college career at Colorado, so he’s used to pressure. Sanders said that he had never dealt with nerves before his big preseason opportunity. However, he admitted there’s room for improvement.
“I felt like I knew the answers to the test. I know I’m ready for the moment,” Sanders said. “Did I play up to par? No, I don’t feel like I did, but overall the main goal was to win and that’s honestly what we did.”
Browns Not Committing to More Reps for Shedeur Sanders
Sanders enters the next wave of training camp with some momentum following his start. He has yet to see any reps with the starting offense. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski declined to say if Sanders’ performance earned him some time with the first team unit.
“We need to get through the next couple days from an injury standpoint and see where everybody is. I’m really focused on all of our quarterbacks’ development and every single one of these reps like they are last night, how important they are,” Stefanski said on Saturday after watching the game tape. “So that’s what I’m focused on more than anything.”
Part of that equation is the health of their QB group. Pickett and Gabriel have been limited by hamstring injuries and their return timeline is still uncertain.
“Good question. We’ll see,” Stefanski said on the health of Gabriel and Pickett. “I’ll know more over the next couple days.”
The Browns’ next preseason game is on August 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles. The sides will also have some joint practices together.
