BEREA, Ohio \u2014 If Shedeur Sanders is frustrated about not receiving any snaps with the first team during the first week of the Cleveland Browns\u2019 training camp, he isn\u2019t showing it.<\/p>\n
Sanders said on Friday that it is out of his control and not his place to answer why he has worked mainly with the third and fourth teams during the first three days of practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not even going to think about that or have that even in my thought process of why it is,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make me feel down or it doesn\u2019t make me feel left out or anything 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders \u2014 selected by the Browns in the fifth round after a precipitous fall in April\u2019s draft \u2014 did get some work with the second team for the first time on Friday. He had one of the best throws of the 80-minute practice on a completion down the middle to tight end Blake Whiteheart during 11-on-11 drills.<\/p>\n
Sanders showed he could bounce back after a bad day of practice. He was unable to throw a pass during a four-play red zone drill on Thursday after snap issues on two plays, a false start, and what would have been a sack.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know whenever I get my opportunity, I\u2019ve got to maximize it,\u201d he said. \u201cI just got to think about what I could do to get better even if I\u2019m not getting reps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach Kevin Stefanski didn\u2019t say if Sanders would receive any first-team snaps. Stefanski did note, though, that he has been happy with Sanders\u2019 progress over the past couple of months.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) throws during a practice at the team’s NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. Credit: AP\/Sue Ogrocki<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think Shedeur does a nice job of keeping the main thing, the main thing. He\u2019s working hard and keeping his head down,\u201d Stefanski said.<\/p>\n
There have been 13 sets of 11-on-11 drills during the first three days. Joe Flacco has had the most work with the first team with seven, Kenny Pickett has had five and third-round pick Dillon Gabriel one.<\/p>\n
Flacco and Pickett are the two main combatants in the four-man competition to see who will be the starter for the Sept. 7 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n
All four are getting plenty of snaps on the two practice fields, but there is a difference in who they are working with. <\/p>\n
Sanders said the one advantage of not getting many snaps is that he has had the opportunity to learn more in-depth about everything instead of on the fly like he did at Jackson State and Colorado, where his father, Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, instantly made him the starter. <\/p>\n
Shedeur Sanders added that the area where he has made the most improvement is being more comfortable with the playbook.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always consistent growth, and it always feels like I just solved a puzzle or anything, like, all the time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Quarterback coach Bill Musgrave \u2014 who was Deion Sanders\u2019 teammate during San Francisco\u2019s Super Bowl-winning season in 1994 \u2014 has been impressed with Sanders\u2019 ability to call the play in the huddle as well as calling plays under center. He also added he has seen the same progress from Gabriel, a third-round pick.<\/p>\n
When it comes to the outside pressures Sanders might face \u2014 including heightened expectations from fans \u2014 Musgrave said that everyone has pressure, but the approach has to remain the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe focus has got to be on the techniques, the five-step drop, the seven-step drop, being accurate with our throws,\u201d Musgrave said. \u201cIf we can focus on our trade, the external factors take a back seat, which is where they should remain.\u201d<\/p>\n
While some may waver from the expectations, Sanders has embraced them. He has made a couple of appearances in the Cleveland area, including hosting a community event to benefit residents displaced after an apartment complex fire.<\/p>\n
He also accepted responsibility for two speeding tickets last month. However, things that are happening off the field are the last thing on Sanders\u2019 mind over the next five weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe external is cool. I\u2019m thankful for it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut hey, when I get out there, I\u2019m not thinking about external. I\u2019m thinking about more, in the organization, thinking about getting the play calls, executing my job, and doing what I\u2019ve got to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEREA, Ohio \u2014 If Shedeur Sanders is frustrated about not receiving any snaps with the first team during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[41907,86,85,54,2337,7,6,2309],"class_list":{"0":"post-236100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-audio_enabled","9":"tag-browns","10":"tag-cleveland","11":"tag-cleveland-browns","12":"tag-clevelandbrowns","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-wires-bot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114916271489919718","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}