BEREA, Ohio — Shedeur Sanders didn’t hesitate to answer where he’s grown the most since he tumbled to the Browns in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.
“I would say spiritually,” he said. “That’s where I would say I’ve grown the most. After thedraft, getting closer to God and definitely talking to him consistently, having a real relationship with him. That’s where I say I grown the most at.”
Projected initially to go as high as No. 2 to the Browns, Sanders has relied on his faith and his family to cope with a precipitous fall that may have broken a weaker player. A spiritual man like his famous dad and coach, Deion, Sanders turned to his faith to stay grounded pre-draft, and to keep that ever-present smile on his face after the worst freefall for a quarterback in the NFL draft history.
He felt the need for more spiritual renewal on the eve of mandatory minicamp on Monday, with so much on his mind, and so much outside noise swirling around, including sky-high expectations from so many in the national media for Sanders to come from fourth-string quarterback to win the starting job on opening day.
If the setup to fall from the first round to the fifth wasn’t enough to rattle him, the QB4 to QB1 pressure might get to a 23-year-old rookie. Yes, the Sanders are built tough, but they also bleed and cry just like everyone else.
“I always know when God’s talking to me,” Sanders said during his podium press conference after Day 1 of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. “Like (Monday night), if any of y’all see I tweeted, I tweeted something because when you sleep you’re most vulnerable. So then that’s when I got real bad. I got God talking to me in that time. And I’m able to recognize that because before pro day was the same thing. So that’s how I know I’m on track. That’s how I know I’m living in my purpose and I understand everything happened for a reason.”
On Monday night he tweeted “it’s a spiritual war going on. Trust in GOD.”
Later, in the dark of night, alone with his thoughts, Sanders had a spiritual experience.
“I just got a message that night and I had to sleep with my flashlight on (Monday) night,” he said. “I ain’t … I slept with my flashlight on last night because I was too scared.”
He graciously elaborated on the very personal, very powerful event.
“I was in my hotel room,” he said. “I was talking to a couple pastors yesterday just about my purpose and everything here. It’s a lot going on I’ll say in my mind and I understand what peace is. I know I’m going home (over break) so I can just focus on the little things in life, just feeling the wind, hearing the birds, all that different type of stuff. It’s something that you value now. It’s something I value. So that was the main thing, hearing what he was saying and understanding the message of what it is he was telling me yesterday.”
On top of everything else, of dealing with his very public slide in the draft and the weighty expectations to rise from the ashes and prove everyone wrong, Sanders is also coping with this beloved dad being sick. Coached by Deion since he first gripped a football as a kid, Sanders is extremely close to his dad and has spent almost every day with him since he was born, being coached by him his entire career, even through his school and college.
But while Sanders is here trying to learn a new playbook, how to call plays in a huddle, getting to know his teammates and being away from his family, his dad is at home in Texas grappling with an unspecified illness that’s caused him to lose 14 pounds, as he told Asante Samuel last week on a podcast, and being away from the Colorado Buffaloes for the time being. During the podcast, Deion revealed that what he’s dealing with “right now is at a whole other level.”
It’s not the first time Deion has dealt with a serious health challenge in recent years. In 2021, he had two toes amputated on his left foot due to blood clots from a previous surgery. In 2023, he underwent surgery to remove blood clots in both of his legs.
On Sunday from their home in Texas, Deion’s eldest son, Deion Jr., said on a YouTube livestream that his dad is “feeling well” but doesn’t know when he’ll rejoin the Buffaloes.
“When we get back in Boulder, I don’t know,” Deion Jr. said. “I’m waiting until my dad leaves. When he leaves, then I’ll go. Until then, I’m going to sit here with him.”
Shedeur, who’s laser-focused on becoming the best quarterback he can be, declined to comment on how his dad’s health might be impacting him while he’s engaged here in this four-way quarterback competition with Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Joe Flacco.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Sanders said. “So I’m here not to talk about Pops. I’m here to be the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns. I’m focused on learning this playbook and everything I got to do to be the most successful quarterback and best teammate I could be. Outside of that, I don’t really have no thoughts or really opinions on anything outside this game.”
In rookie minicamp last month, Sanders was asked how he’s remained so upbeat after his draft-day slide, and how he’s kept the smile on his face. At that point, he alluded to his dad’s health issues, but didn’t elaborate.
“You’ve just got to step back and look at life, like, you’re in a great situation overall that you’re able to be healthy,” he said then. “That’s one thing even with my brother going through an injury (arm surgery in 2024) and with my pops and everybody in the family, you value life and you value opportunity and just waking up every day a different way. So that’s kind of why it’s nothing for me to really, no matter what in any situation, I can’t really be phased by it.
“It’s like playing quarterback. You go down there, you may have not scored the whole game or whatever, but then when it gets to that final two minutes and it’s time to lock in extra, you can’t be in your feelings. You can’t be down about anything. You’ve still got another chance.”
Sanders was in such a great headspace on Tuesday that he put in perfect perspective why it’s easy for him to go from much-heralded Colorado starting quarterback to Browns fourth-teamer.
“I’m managing it real well,” he said. “Overall it’s a mentality. It’s mental. It’s a lot of people in certain situations in their own life that may not be at the forefront that maybe they had that at one point in time, but you’ve got to know it’s going to be bright days eventually, whenever the time comes. You’ve just always got to be prepared and you’ve got to mentally take it as just experience.”
The events of the past few months have also given him an even greater appreciation for everything he has.
“Anything in life, you’ve got to go through different things so you can understand the message that God’s trying to give you,” he said. “I’m way more grateful just to come out here, to be able to throw the ball around and just be able to get on the field. Everything off the field, it is what it is. But everybody knows when it’s time to get on that grass, then you know who I am.”
On Tuesday, Sanders served once again as the fourth-team quarterback, launching a deep touchdown pass to undrafted rookie Gage Larvadain in modified 7-on-7s. It was one of many fine passes by Sanders, who’s making tremendous progress with what the Browns have asked him to do so far. He’s not getting work with the starters yet like the other three, but he did get the second set of 11-of-11s on Tuesday after Gabriel, closing it out with a 12-yard out to rookie Luke Floreia. If he continues to progress, those reps with Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku will come.
“I know every day there’s room for improvement in a lot of different areas in my game,” he said. “So I never feel, I would say, full. I would say I’m always hungry, and it’s a lot of aspects in football that you could get better at. You could always get precise on more things. So I feel like I put in my day’s work, but I know I’m far from where I want to be.”
Over the past few weeks, Sanders has developed a fun rapport with Flacco, who’s almost old enough to be his dad at 40, and just missed playing with Deion in Baltimore by a few years. Sanders has a way of getting the sometimes buttoned up Flacco to laugh, including when he demonstrated a dance move and asked Flacco if he could hit it. A mic’d up Flacco responded that he’s never hit a public dance move in his life.
“Joe’s the old guy in the room, so I joke with Joe all the time every day I see him,” Sanders said. “I can’t tell you all my jokes, but whenever you see them or they’re mic’d up or anything, all that stuff is real. It’s spur of the moment and then after that, it’s time to lock back in. Our minds are always consistently and constantly moving.”
He’s asked Flacco to help get through reads quicker so as not to take as many sacks as he did at Colorado - an FBS-high 94 in his two seasons. It’s the No. 1 thing he must correct to get on the field here.
“He’s seen it, he’s played it and he’s a pro,” Sanders said. “I’d be dumb, I’ll be a fool to not get insight from somebody that’s had the success over all the years that he has.”
Day-by-day, he’s releasing the ball a little more quickly.
“It’s extremely important,” he said. “I took a lot of sacks in college so I know how that feels on your body. When you know the ins and outs and everything, then it’s a whole different type of confidence you go out there with. I’m definitely getting to that point. I’d say by the time training camp comes, then I’ll be there.”
As for sometimes working alone on the opposite field to get up to speed or not working yet with the ones, Sanders is taking it in stride.
“It’s just a mindset, just an adjustment,” he said. “You’ve got to understand the situation that you’re in and be able to get the best out of it. Life is just based on how you view different things. So you can view things as you’re not getting reps in a negative way or you could view it as, ‘OK, when it’s my time to get out there, let’s be proactive and let’s get warm, let’s get going so there’s no excuses.’ Because when you get out there, nobody cares how many reps you got. Everybody cares about production.”
Sanders also has an excellent attitude about the pace at which the Browns are bringing him along. He knows must walk in the this system before he can run, and he’s cool with that.
“My goal is to be the best teammate and to be as positive as I can be,” he said. “In every aspect, I view things as I’ve got time. I’ve got time to be able to grow and mature and be able to understand the ins and outs of the defenses and be able to get the good insight from the vets in the room. So I look at it as a plus.
“But I’m not looking too far in the future about all that. I’m looking about every day in practice. I had some misses out there today that we’ve got to go in there and correct about reads, getting in and out drops a little bit faster from under center. So that’s the main thing. I’m focused on the small things and over time the big things will happen.”
The beautiful thing for Sanders is that he’s back playing football, and it’s all he’s ever known.
“I just feel like I’m back in my element,” he said. “It’s grass, it’s fresh grass, you hear the birds outside, you understand what peace is at this point in life. So I’m back in my element. I’m excited to be here.”
The lights are certainly coming on, even if they sometimes have to stay on at night.
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