BEREA, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders still hasn’t had Myles Garrett bearing down on him like fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel did on Day 1 of Browns minicamp, but he got a little bump on Day 2 that seemed noteworthy.
In an 11-on-11 move the ball period on Tuesday, Sanders went second after Kenny Pickett, and ahead of Gabriel. Joe Flacco mostly sat out 11-on-11s again, except for four snaps in an early team red zone period, which ended with his TD pass to running back Quinshon Judkins. For Sanders, it marked the first time Sanders he’s gone before Gabriel in an 11-on-11 drill.
Granted, Gabriel worked against Garrett again on some of his reps in that period while Sanders faced the second- and third-team defense, but it seemed as though the Browns were rewarding Sanders for his hard work and a job well done in organized team activities and minicamp.
In his five reps in that period, he hit Diontae Johnson with a short out to the left, found his go-to guy Gage Larvadain down the right side, and once pulled it in and ran to the end zone, finishing the play even though he would’ve been stopped in a live situation. Sanders later went 3-of-4 in a 7-on-7 two-minute drill, finding Larvadain twice and dumping off to Dylan Sampson once.
As for Sanders not facing the likes of Garrett, Denzel Ward or Grant Delpit yet, Kevin Stefanski reiterated that it doesn’t mean much at this point. The truth is, Sanders is still the fourth-team quarterback and will have to continue to work his way up to those starting reps.
“Like I’ve told you guys, let’s not look too much into who’s out there when,” Stefanski said. “We’re in installation phase, we’re in teaching phase, so not much to look into.”
Likewise, he cautioned that Flacco’s absence from most 11-on-11s on this camp doesn’t inform his status in the four-way competition.
“He got reps today in a couple drills, but every day, like I told you, we’re going to be real intentional about how we divvy them up,” Stefanski said.
**Two-minute time**
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The Browns concluded Wednesday’s practice with a two-minute 7-on-7 drill, in which Kenny Pickett went first, Gabriel second and Sander third. Flacco sat that one out. All three quarterbacks completed most of their passes in the drill.
“We started to introduce some two-minute into the offense and defense last week and then started to work a little bit today.”
**Why the red zone rocks**
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Stefanski explained why minicamp has been so red-zone centric, including the first 11-on-11 period on Tuesday in which Gabriel went first and Flacco second.
“We’ve done a lot of red zone period for a bunch of different reasons,” he said. “No. 1, it’s so important. Obviously, it’s a scoring portion of our field but No. 2, it’s a nice way to take care of legs. If you do a tight red zone drill, you’re not running 50 yards if you will, so you try to incorporate some red zone into what we do.”
He noted that it’s a different world inside the 20, where the Browns struggled last season.
“The field becomes wider than it is long,” he said. “A lot of those windows become extremely tight. Obviously, we’re not working the run game right now, but in the run game those running backs have to sometimes bring their own blocker. We’re going to have a safety that we can’t block. So the game really does change down there.”
**Jamari Thrash coming on strong**
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With receivers Cedric Tillman and Michael Woods II both sitting out minicamp with injuries, 2024 fifth-round pick Jamari Thrash has gotten most of the first-team reps and he’s caught mostly everything thrown his way.
“He’s had a really strong spring,” he said. “He’s here all the time working on his body. Very intelligent player, can line up in multiple positions which I think is valuable. And then he showed up, he’s caught the ball well and you know the quarterbacks like how he gets open. He finds a way to get open vs. zone, vs man.”
On Tuesday, he caught a nice backshoulder fade out of the slot on the right side of the end zone from Gabriel.
**Mike Hall Jr. and David Bell still idle**
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Hall, who underwent knee surgery, and Bell, who underwent hip surgery, are both sitting out minicamp, and Stefanski couldn’t say if they’ll be ready for training camp at the end of July.
“I’ll have a better update as we get closer to training camp,” he said.
**Deion Sanders provides a health update**
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Deion Sanders, father of Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, provided an update on his health Wednesday on X, informing fans that he’s okay. Sanders, who hasn’t been seen publicly since late April, last week revealed on a podcast with Asante Samuel that he’s been ill and has lost 14 pounds. He said what he’s been dealing with is on “a whole other level.” His son, Deion Jr. live-streamed on YouTube Sunday that his dad was feeling well, but wasn’t sure when he’d return to the Colorado campus.
“Truly blessed for the abundance of well wishes, for all the thoughts and all of the prayers. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” Deion Sanders posted Wednesday on X. He added that he’s “excited to get back to Colorado to be at home with my staff, team & all associated to our program.”
In 2021, Sanders had two toes amputated, and in 2023, he had blood clots removed from his legs. Shedeur declined to comment on his dad’s situation on Tuesday and how it may be impacting him emotionally, saying he was focusing on minicamp.
**Summer off-site workout**
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Pickett revealed that he’s talked with Flacco, Jerry Jeudy, Thrash and some of the others about getting together during their five-week break before training camp to work out as a group.
“Joe’s in New Jersey and I’ll be back in New Jersey as well,” Pickett said. “So hopefully we can work something out. We can get two or three days in the middle of the break to continue to build that timing and hang out off the field before we get ready to go into a big season.”
Flacco was open to the idea, but non-commital.
“You always get questions about what you’re going to do over these five weeks and honestly, I’m 40 years old,” he said. “I’m going to continue to do what I’ve been doing the last few years. If something does happen to come together, it will be nice, the fact that a couple of us are right in that zone and maybe we can pull something (together), but honestly those things, it’s more about kind of just getting together and spending time with the guys than it is throwing the ball around. It’s just building rapport and getting to know guys. That’s the most important thing.”
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