If there is one thing that can be said about Shedeur Sanders, it’s that he will never be ignored. That was proven to be the case again at Cleveland Browns training camp on Monday.
Faced with the prospect that Deshaun Watson had finally passed him in their quarterback competition and earned the starting job, Sanders responded with one of his best practices of the summer. After being skipped over for his turn at first-team reps over the weekend, the 24-year-old showed he’s not giving up without a fight.
That certainly caught the attention of head coach Todd Monken, who said Sanders has “played better” in camp, with this recent practice the latest example of his development.
“Shedeur was great today. I wasn’t sure, maybe Saturday [he] would’ve preferred to be with the ones, and I’d be [angry] if he wasn’t, because all of our guys should want to be with the ones. I’ve always said that about Shedeur. But even over the last week or so, Deshaun has played better, he’s looked better, he’s made better decisions. I think some of that grows, like all of us, as they have success. Their confidence grows with the success they have every day,” Monken said.
After Sanders closed the gap toward the end of minicamps and may have even taken the lead early in training camp, Watson’s “tremendous strides” earned him back-to-back first-team snaps on Friday and Saturday. The change in rotation led some to declare that the competition was realistically over, with Watson the winner.
That may still turn out to be the case, but if Sanders was given a last chance on Monday, he made the most of it. He completed 16 of 23 passes for three touchdowns without an interception, so if Monken was trying to motivate him with his semi-benching, it looks to have worked.
However, it also reignited trade rumors surrounding Sanders, as his ability to be the backup to Watson remains in question. It is a situation that probably has more to do with the inevitable distraction than a desire to use Dillon Gabriel in that role.
Sanders has thrown just four interceptions during camp, compared to the eight thrown by Watson. That may have been the only reason the battle was still ongoing, but Watson managed to overcome that concerning statistic with two very good no-interception practices.
It will be interesting to see if Monken goes back to alternating first-team practice days between Watson and Sanders the rest of this week, as any change could be an indication of the likely starter in the preseason opener on Saturday against the Chicago Bears.
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