Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders initially reacted without speaking to Rex Ryan’s criticisms about him.
Now he’s ready to talk about it.
During a segment last week on ESPN’s Get Up, Ryan took several shots at Sanders over his perceived off-field behavior.
“This kid runs his mouth like, ‘I got could be a starting quarterback,’ with his arms crossed like this. Get your *ss in the front row and study and do all that. If I know, the whole league knows,” Ryan said.
A few days later, Sanders responded to reporters’ questions about the Browns benching Joe Flacco in favor of Dillon Gabriel (instead of him) by acting like a mime. While it was initially unclear what he was doing, Adam Schefter eventually clarified that it was a reaction to Ryan’s desire for Sanders to stop “running his mouth.”
On Thursday, Sanders gave verbal responses this time when asked about Ryan’s comments.
“He’s just trying to start something,” Sanders said. “We not on no negativity from now on. We not doing that. I’m just here to be positive, and I don’t speak on anything negative. That’s the new way, that’s what we going forward with. Anything negative, we not talking about it, we not speaking on it.”
Sanders also explained the mime routine, which went over some people’s heads and led to further criticism by others.
“I guess not everybody likes playful all the time,” Sanders said. “So, it’s to understand how to be at all times and keep my personality a little bit slimmer, I guess. Because not everybody understands it at all times, and you may not have a full time to be able to explain things.”
It’s been an incredibly odd rookie season for Sanders, who has been in the spotlight despite spending much of the year down the depth chart. Perhaps no backup quarterback has ever received as much attention as he has, so like Ryan Clark advised, blocking out the negativity and not giving critics any further ammo is probably the best headspace to be in.
“I’m in a great mental space overall,” Sanders said. “So, I would say you tend to get a little bit more excited when you see a light at the end of the tunnel, for sure. … Whatever my role is here, I’m thankful. I’m happy just to do that.”