BEREA, Ohio \u2014 Shedeur Sanders didn\u2019t hesitate to answer where he\u2019s grown the most since he tumbled to the Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say spiritually,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where I would say I\u2019ve grown the most. After the draft, getting closer to God and definitely talking to him consistently, having a real relationship with him. That\u2019s where I say I grown the most at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Projected initially to go as high as No. 2 to the Browns, Sanders has relied on his faith and his family to cope with a precipitous fall that may have broken a weaker player. A spiritual man like his famous dad and coach, Deion, Sanders turned to his faith to stay grounded pre-draft, and to keep that ever-present smile on his face after the worst freefall for a quarterback in the NFL draft history. <\/p>\n
He felt the need for more spiritual renewal on the eve of mandatory minicamp on Monday, with so much on his mind, and so much outside noise swirling around, including sky-high expectations from so many in the national media for Sanders to come from fourth-string quarterback to win the starting job on opening day. <\/p>\n
If the setup to fall from the first round to the fifth wasn\u2019t enough to rattle him, the QB4 to QB1 pressure might get to a 23-year-old rookie. Yes, the Sanders are built tough, but they also bleed and cry just like everyone else. <\/p>\n
\u201cI always know when God\u2019s talking to me,\u201d Sanders said during his podium press conference after Day 1 of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. \u201cLike (Monday night), if any of y\u2019all see I tweeted, I tweeted something because when you sleep you\u2019re most vulnerable. So then that\u2019s when I got real bad. I got God talking to me in that time. And I\u2019m able to recognize that because before pro day was the same thing. So that\u2019s how I know I\u2019m on track. That\u2019s how I know I\u2019m living in my purpose and I understand everything happened for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday night he tweeted \u201cit\u2019s a spiritual war going on. Trust in GOD.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Later, in the dark of night, alone with his thoughts, Sanders had a spiritual experience. <\/p>\n \u201cI just got a message that night and I had to sleep with my flashlight on (Monday) night,\u201d he said. \u201cI ain\u2019t \u2026 I slept with my flashlight on last night because I was too scared.\u201d<\/p>\n He graciously elaborated on the very personal, very powerful event. <\/p>\n \u201cI was in my hotel room,\u201d he said. \u201cI was talking to a couple pastors yesterday just about my purpose and everything here. It\u2019s a lot going on I\u2019ll say in my mind and I understand what peace is. I know I\u2019m going home (over break) so I can just focus on the little things in life, just feeling the wind, hearing the birds, all that different type of stuff. It\u2019s something that you value now. It\u2019s something I value. So that was the main thing, hearing what he was saying and understanding the message of what it is he was telling me yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n On top of everything else, of dealing with his very public slide in the draft and the weighty expectations to rise from the ashes and prove everyone wrong, Sanders is also coping with this beloved dad being sick. Coached by Deion since he first gripped a football as a kid, Sanders is extremely close to his dad and has spent almost every day with him since he was born, being coached by him his entire career, even through his school and college. <\/p>\n But while Sanders is here trying to learn a new playbook, how to call plays in a huddle, getting to know his teammates and being away from his family, his dad is at home in Texas grappling with an unspecified illness that\u2019s caused him to lose 14 pounds, as he told Asante Samuel last week on a podcast, <\/a>and being away from the Colorado Buffaloes for the time being. During the podcast, Deion revealed that what he\u2019s dealing with \u201cright now is at a whole other level.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time Deion has dealt with a serious health challenge in recent years. In 2021, he had two toes amputated on his left foot due to blood clots from a previous surgery. In 2023, he underwent surgery to remove blood clots in both of his legs. <\/p>\n On Sunday from their home in Texas, Deion\u2019s eldest son, Deion Jr., said on a YouTube livestream that his dad is \u201cfeeling well\u201d but doesn\u2019t know when he\u2019ll rejoin the Buffaloes.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhen we get back in Boulder, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Deion Jr. said. \u201cI\u2019m waiting until my dad leaves. When he leaves, then I\u2019ll go. Until then, I\u2019m going to sit here with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Shedeur, who\u2019s laser-focused on becoming the best quarterback he can be, declined to comment on how his dad\u2019s health might be impacting him while he\u2019s engaged here in this four-way quarterback competition with Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Joe Flacco. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cSo I\u2019m here not to talk about Pops. I\u2019m here to be the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. I\u2019m focused on learning this playbook and everything I got to do to be the most successful quarterback and best teammate I could be. Outside of that, I don\u2019t really have no thoughts or really opinions on anything outside this game.\u201d<\/p>\n In rookie minicamp last month, Sanders was asked how he\u2019s remained so upbeat after his draft-day slide, and how he\u2019s kept the smile on his face. At that point, he alluded to his dad\u2019s health issues, but didn\u2019t elaborate. <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve just got to step back and look at life, like, you\u2019re in a great situation overall that you\u2019re able to be healthy,\u201d he said then.<\/a> \u201cThat\u2019s one thing even with my brother going through an injury (arm surgery in 2024) and with my pops and everybody in the family, you value life and you value opportunity and just waking up every day a different way. So that\u2019s kind of why it\u2019s nothing for me to really, no matter what in any situation, I can\u2019t really be phased by it. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like playing quarterback. You go down there, you may have not scored the whole game or whatever, but then when it gets to that final two minutes and it\u2019s time to lock in extra, you can\u2019t be in your feelings. You can\u2019t be down about anything. You\u2019ve still got another chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanders was in such a great headspace on Tuesday that he put in perfect perspective why it\u2019s easy for him to go from much-heralded Colorado starting quarterback to Browns fourth teamer.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m managing it real well,\u201d he said. \u201cOverall it\u2019s a mentality. It\u2019s mental. It\u2019s a lot of people in certain situations in their own life that may not be at the forefront that maybe they had that at one point in time, but you\u2019ve got to know it\u2019s going to be bright days eventually, whenever the time comes. You\u2019ve just always got to be prepared and you\u2019ve got to mentally take it as just experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The events of the past few months have also given him an even greater appreciation for everything he has.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything in life, you\u2019ve got to go through different things so you can understand the message that God\u2019s trying to give you,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m way more grateful just to come out here, to be able to throw the ball around and just be able to get on the field. Everything off the field, it is what it is. But everybody knows when it\u2019s time to get on that grass, then you know who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Sanders served once again as the fourth-team quarterback, launching a deep touchdown pass to undrafted rookie Gage Larvadain in modified 7-on-7s. It was one of many fine passes by Sanders, who\u2019s making tremendous progress with what the Browns have asked him to do so far. He\u2019s not getting work with the starters yet like the other three, but he did get the second set of 11-of-11s on Tuesday after Gabriel, closing it out with a 12-yard out to rookie Luke Floriea. If he continues to progress, those reps with Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku will come. <\/p>\n \u201cI know every day there\u2019s room for improvement in a lot of different areas in my game,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I never feel, I would say, full. I would say I\u2019m always hungry, and it\u2019s a lot of aspects in football that you could get better at. You could always get precise on more things. So I feel like I put in my day\u2019s work, but I know I\u2019m far from where I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the past few weeks, Sanders has developed a fun rapport with Flacco, who\u2019s almost old enough to be his dad at 40, and just missed playing with Deion in Baltimore by a few years. Sanders has a way of getting the sometimes buttoned up Flacco to laugh, including when he demonstrated a dance move and asked Flacco if he could hit it. A mic\u2019d up Flacco responded that he\u2019s never hit a public dance move in his life.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe\u2019s the old guy in the room, so I joke with Joe all the time every day I see him,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cI can\u2019t tell you all my jokes, but whenever you see them or they\u2019re mic\u2019d up or anything, all that stuff is real. It\u2019s spur of the moment and then after that, it\u2019s time to lock back in. Our minds are always consistently and constantly moving.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s asked Flacco to help get through reads quicker so as not to take as many sacks as he did at Colorado – an FBS-high 94 in his two seasons. It\u2019s the No. 1 thing he must correct to get on the field here. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s seen it, he\u2019s played it and he\u2019s a pro,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cI\u2019d be dumb, I\u2019ll be a fool to not get insight from somebody that\u2019s had the success over all the years that he has.\u201d<\/p>\n Day-by-day, he\u2019s releasing the ball a little more quickly. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s extremely important,\u201d he said. \u201cI took a lot of sacks in college so I know how that feels on your body. When you know the ins and outs and everything, then it\u2019s a whole different type of confidence you go out there with. I\u2019m definitely getting to that point. I\u2019d say by the time training camp comes, then I\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n As for sometimes working alone on the opposite field to get up to speed or not working yet with the ones, Sanders is taking it in stride. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a mindset, just an adjustment,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to understand the situation that you\u2019re in and be able to get the best out of it. Life is just based on how you view different things. So you can view things as you\u2019re not getting reps in a negative way or you could view it as, \u2018OK, when it\u2019s my time to get out there, let\u2019s be proactive and let\u2019s get warm, let\u2019s get going so there\u2019s no excuses.\u2019 Because when you get out there, nobody cares how many reps you got. Everybody cares about production.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanders also has an excellent attitude about the pace at which the Browns are bringing him along. He knows must walk in this system before he can run, and he\u2019s cool with that. <\/p>\n \u201cMy goal is to be the best teammate and to be as positive as I can be,\u201d he said. \u201cIn every aspect, I view things as I\u2019ve got time. I\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m not looking too far in the future about all that. I\u2019m looking about every day in practice. I had some misses out there today that we\u2019ve got to go in there and correct about reads, getting in and out drops a little bit faster from under center. So that\u2019s the main thing. I\u2019m focused on the small things and over time the big things will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The beautiful thing for Sanders is that he\u2019s back playing football, and it\u2019s all he\u2019s ever known.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel like I\u2019m back in my element,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s grass, it\u2019s fresh grass, you hear the birds outside, you understand what peace is at this point in life. So I\u2019m back in my element. I\u2019m excited to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n The lights are certainly coming on, even if they sometimes have to stay on at night. <\/p>\n Football Insider newsletter free trial: Take a minute and sign up for a free trial<\/a> of our Football Insider newsletter, featuring exclusive content from cleveland.com’s Browns reporters.<\/p>\n