Shedeur Sanders vindicated in Browns QB battle with defiant plea to media, ‘have a new vibe’

This season is already shaping up to be different for Shedeur Sanders.

The Cleveland Browns quarterback made his NFL regular-season debut – albeit a nervy one – back in Week 11 of the 2025 campaign when he replaced Dillon Gabriel after he suffered a concussion.

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He entered the game having received no first-team reps from former head coach Kevin Stefanski, after spending much of the season fourth on the depth chart behind that of Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Gabriel.

But at minicamp on Tuesday, Sanders received the most first-team reps among the Browns quarterback room of Deshaun Watson and Gabriel, which could yet be an indicator of where new head coach Todd Monken is leaning for his QB1 for 2026.

“That’s not up to me [who starts],” Sanders said, via The Athletic’s Zac Jackson. “I go out there every day and focus on what I can control. If I focus on something I can’t control, then I’ll be living the wrong way.”

Sanders, who finished out the remainder of the 2025 season under center and threw for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns before being named a Pro Bowl replacement credited his new head coach as having “spoke life into me” since his arrival.

“There’s a lot of new energy,” Sanders added. “I’m loving what we’re doing. I’m open to learning every day. I’m just coming here with a renewed mindset and just approaching life with a renewed mindset.”

The starting quarterback spot has been a particular topic of conversation for the Browns for a number of years, but in 2026, despite Watson now being fully healthy, the $230m signal caller isn’t necessarily the leading frontrunner for the role.

What does give him a slight edge over Sanders, though, is his 72 games of NFL experience.

“Deshaun has accomplished a lot in his career, obviously, so when I have questions about certain things, I ask him,” Sanders said.

“And I just like hearing his perspective on problems that I could have or the way I think about things — just hearing the way he thinks of things and hearing the way Dillon thinks of things, hearing the way Coach Monken thinks of things.”

Although Sanders – son of NFL legend Deion – saw the most reps at minicamp on Tuesday, Monken revealed that he has developed a plan to ensure he gets a fair and equal look at all of the QB room with the first-ream offense.

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“It was set up in a way for us to get a look at all of them,” Monken said. “The plan was that Shedeur would have a few more reps, but let Shedeur and Deshaun each get reps with the ones.”

Sanders issues plea to Browns media

With the battle to be QB1 only just really beginning to heat up with the regular season still some six months away yet, Sanders raved to reporters about what it’s like to be putting in the work with his teammates.

“They’re going to understand and embrace you just as a person, and then they push you each and every day in the meeting room, on the field, in the weight room,” Sanders said.

With that in mind, though, the former Colorado Buffaloes star was also upfront with reporters about what he wants to see from them in his second season.

“We need y’all to have a new vibe, a new energy,” Sanders pleaded. “I know y’all want us to win, so we need a winning energy here.

“We can’t have too much negativity going on. We want the players to be the best version of ourselves for y’all.”

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Due to his high-profile name, who his father is, and his all-time slide in the 2025 NFL Draft, Sanders was under scrutiny from the media the very moment his name was called out on draft night.

But he is hoping that with an apparent culture shift in the organization, that the local media especially can get behind the team and shift that narrative on the Browns nationwide.

Only time will tell if his cries are listened to, or not.

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