As QB Shedeur Sanders walked out to the practice fields at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on his first official day in the building, he took in the sight of his new team practicing.
Then, Sanders had his chance to put on his No. 12 jersey and helmet and take the field as rookie minicamp kicked off. He worked with the quarterbacks during individual periods and took reps during team periods, connecting with different pass catchers in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods throughout the weekend.
"My job here isn't to prove people wrong," Sanders said. "It's to prove myself right."
When the Browns drafted Sanders with the 144th pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry said they viewed him as a highly accurate pocket passer and a player who protects the ball. He also highlighted Sanders' arm strength and mobility as strong physical characteristics and were excited about the opportunity to add another talented player to their roster and to the quarterback room.
Sanders has put the draft behind him and now is keeping his focus on learning the Browns' playbook and acclimating himself to his new team and the city of Cleveland. He has spent time around the other rookies over the first two days of camp, and Sanders said he has enjoyed being back in a team environment with team bonding after a draft process that was more individualized.
With the start of rookie minicamp also comes the conversations centered around the quarterback position. He joins a quarterback room that consists of Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watson and third-round draft pick Dillon Gabriel. Sanders took the field with Gabriel, and the two went through drills together in the first two days of camp. While much of the competition will not start until OTAs, Sanders recognizes that he is now a part of a four-man quarterback competition.
However, he holds the mindset of proving himself right.
"In life and everything is just me versus me," Sanders said. "I can't control any other decision besides that, so I just try to be my best self."
He's also balancing the notion getting acclimated in his first few days with the Browns, while also knowing there is an underlying competition he is actively apart of. In order to do so, Sanders said he's sticking to the mentality of taking it day by day.
"I just find something I want to perfect, and just perfect it to the best of my abilities," Sanders said. "And that's all I really focus on, being here, just being a leader, being a great teammate. Doing what I need to do, whenever it is, so I'm just thankful for opportunity. Things could have been a lot worse, but I'm here smiling in front of you all at this facility right now."
Throughout the first two days of rookie minicamp, both Sanders and Gabriel have taken reps in all the periods. They alternated throws during individual periods and switched off between groups during the team drills. Head coach Kevin Stefanski said the plan throughout minicamp was to split the reps between the two of them. They added competitive periods into the script for rookie minicamp to get Sanders and Gabriel as many reps as they could.
As the competition continues throughout the summer, Stefanski said they will use not only the evaluations from minicamp in the process, but also the evaluations throughout the remainder of the offseason.
"You may get the first rep of practice with the ones, but then the next period you may get the second group. So, we vary it throughout. We're focused more on the totality of this competition," Stefanski said. "I told the players last night, we tell them this – we're evaluating everything they do out on the field, in the meeting room, in the weight room. We want to see how they work. So, this is a total evaluation. It's not just about one rep at rookie minicamp or one rep in an OTA. It's really all about the body of work."
