Shedeur Sanders shrugs off lack of 1st-team reps at Browns minicamp

For the first time in his football career, Shedeur Sanders is at the bottom of his team's depth chart. However, that doesn't mean that the Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback isn't practicing and preparing the same way. 

Sanders, who the Browns took in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, believes that he's handling his situation as Cleveland's unofficial fourth-string quarterback "real well." 

"I would say it’s just a mindset, this adjustment. You got to go and understand the situation that you’re in and be able to approach that and get the best out of it," Sanders told reporters following the Browns' first mandatory minicamp practice on Tuesday. "You could view things as you’re not getting reps in a negative way, or you could view it as, OK, when is my time to get out there? Let’s be proactive, let's get warm and let’s get going.

"So, there's no excuses because when you get out there, nobody cares how many reps you got whenever you get in the game. Nobody cares if you took a snap before. Everybody cares about production. So that's the main thing when you get out there: You got to be able to produce."

Following Day 2 of Browns minicamp on Wednesday, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel split first-team reps. Sanders' reps during the offseason program came with the backup units, but he saw his workload increase as Flacco's reduced.  

On the final snap of Tuesday's practice, Sanders connected with Luke Floriea on a skinny post route while under pressure. Another highlight came during a 7-on-7 drill, when he threw a deep ball up the right sideline to Gage Larvadain with cornerback Dom Jones in coverage.

Sanders seemed to carry the momentum into Wednesday's practice. He statistically