Shedeur Sanders Talks Mental Approach to Handling Limited Reps at Browns Training Camp

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders says he is working to "maximize" his opportunities in training camp despite getting limited reps amid a quarterback competition with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel.

"Honestly, just have a deeper level of understanding, because I know whenever I get my opportunity I've got to maximize it," Sanders said on Friday (h/t ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi).

Sanders continued, "You have to change it in a mentality standpoint, in a mental standpoint. It's okay, I've just got to think about what I can do to get better even if I'm not getting reps. It's no problem."

The Athletic's Zac Jackson reported Friday that Pickett and Flacco have been splitting first-team reps through two practices, while Gabriel currently appears to be "clearly third in line" ahead of Sanders.

According to Jackson, Gabriel "is always second or third in drill lines," depending on whether Flacco is resting.

Sanders completed four passes on four attempts during team drills on Thursday, per ESPN Cleveland.

When not participating in drills, Sanders has at times been throwing to equipment managers due to the limited availability of Browns wide receivers, according to Oyefusi.

Oyefusi noted that this is because "reps have been stretched out for the skill positions with four QBs and at times, Sanders might not be in the rotation for individual drills."

"It doesn't really phase me, you understand," Sanders said about being flexible with who he's throwing to, per Oyefusi. "We came all the way from HBCU to the Power 5, and then now, we're here. At this point, you look around, there's nothing that's a challenge, honestly."

When asked why he believed he wasn't getting reps with the first-team offense, Sanders said, "That's not my place to answer, to even be able to give the answer to that. It's not in my control, so I'm not going to think about that, or have that in my thought process of why that is.

"There's a lot of people that want to have the opportunity to be at this level, and I'm here, and I'm thankful to have the opportunity."

Sanders may not need to beat out Gabriel to keep his roster spot ahead of the 2025 season.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry said ahead of training camp that the team would consider keeping four quarterbacks on the roster ahead of the 2025 season.

"We’ve largely looked at the last five spots of a roster as more developmental spots and that can come from any position... if there are four that are 53-man worthy, we think it makes the most sense for us to keep them," Berry said, per the team's transcript.

Sanders will hope to get the chance to show the Browns enough to offer him one of those "developmental spots" as training camp continues through Aug. 4 in Berea.