Shedeur Sanders has said before that he believes he’s been misunderstood, but the Browns’ backup quarterback admitted in a magazine story published this week that he remains confused by the public’s perception of him.
“I wish people understood me more as a human being,” Sanders, who’s sitting behind starter Deshaun Watson this season in Cleveland, told Cosmopolitan. “I don’t think a lot of people really know me. I’m just now starting to understand that. You hear a lot of things online, but every encounter I have in person, people end up saying, ‘Oh, wow, he’s actually a great guy.’ Why would you think I’m a bad guy?
“So I’ve been looking at things a lot more lately, like, ‘Why would people think this?’ It’s not something I’m going to put [only] on myself, but I do want to fix that. I want to connect with more people, so they can meet me and see the truth.”
After Sanders declined to throw at the scouting combine, he slid to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Colorado, where he played for his father with the Buffaloes.
He appeared in eight games with seven starts as a rookie, throwing for 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions, with Watson missing the entire season due to an Achilles injury.
But the 24-year-old Sanders has thrown just one pass during the Browns’ 3-1 start under first-year coach Todd Monken, with Watson posting a passer rating of 101.2 with six touchdowns and only two interceptions entering Sunday’s road game against the Jets.
The Browns have four quarterbacks under contract, including fellow 2025 draft pick Dillon Gabriel, who is on injured reserve with a back injury.
Gabriel was designated to return to practice this week, and he is expected to challenge Sanders for the No. 2 role behind Watson ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline.
