Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has shot down an alleged ‘conspiracy’ surrounding Shedeur Sanders – though ex-QB Robert Griffin III has called on the organization to put an end to the ‘toxic’ quarterback situation.
Sanders endured a nightmarish preseason outing against the Rams last weekend – taking five sacks on 11 dropbacks – and fans were up in arms afterwards as they accused Stefanski of sabotaging the rookie passer.
Sanders was the third quarterback to enter the game for Cleveland and played alongside backups, while his fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel was given the start and threw for 129 yards and a touchdown as he shared the field with more key players.
But Stefanski didn’t mince words when asked by Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot about the notion that he was deliberately getting in Sanders’ way.
‘I’m committed to his development, just like all of our rookies,’ Stefanski said. ‘We’ll continue to focus on getting our guys better. That’s what we will stay committed to, and that’s what’s important to me.’
And while 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year Griffin didn’t go as far as accusing Stefanski of ‘conspiracy’, he did accuse the Browns of not giving Sanders the same chances as Gabriel to succeed.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has been accused by some of trying to sabotage Shedeur Sanders
Robert Griffin III didn’t go quite that far, but he blasted the team’s ‘toxic’ QB situation and urged them to trade either Sanders or Dillon Gabriel
‘Shedeur Sanders was never given equal opportunity to compete with Dillon Gabriel and the Browns showed us that throughout training camp and the preseason,’ he wrote on X with an accompanying video.
‘If [it] was a real competition, Dillon and Shedeur would have played with the same talent around them in the last game.’
Griffin noted that Sanders – who has also not taken first-team reps this offseason – played with third, fourth and fifth offensive linemen against LA, and ‘never had a chance’ in three of the five sacks he took.
Sanders threw for 138 yards and two touchdowns in his preseason debut (and first start) against the Panthers earlier this month.
‘When Shedeur Sanders was put out there with the proper talent around him, he excelled… when they put him out there [with] talent of guys that are not gonna be on NFL rosters, that was the result,’ Griffin compared of the Panthers and Rams games.
He went on to call the Browns’ quarterback situation ‘toxic’ and even claimed that the team needed to trade one of Sanders or Gabriel.
‘Right now, it’s not about it not being fair for either guy,’ Griffin said. ‘It’s not a growth or leadership environment for either guy. And that makes it a bad, toxic situation around their quarterback situation in the media.’
Sanders was sacked five times before being replaced by Tyler Huntley against the Rams
Fans were up in arms after Dillon Gabriel was handed the start and got to play with more key players
Sanders ended his performance against the Rams with 3-6 passing for just 14 yards – and was pulled for Tyler Huntley towards the end of the game before a potential chance to lead a two-minute drill.
Huntley, who was signed by the team during training camp, was cut after the game.
The Browns are expected to keep four quarterbacks in Sanders, Gabriel, Kenny Pickett and starter Joe Flacco – though there has been controversy between the two rookies.
During Gabriel’s preseason start against the Eagles this preseason, he cryptically answered a question on how he’s able to ‘tune out the noise’.
‘There’s entertainers and there’s competitors,’ he told CBS’ Aditi Kinkhabwala on the sideline during the Eagles game. ‘And I totally understand that, and my job is to compete. And that’s what I’m focused on doing.’
Fans quickly piled on the third-round pick as they interpreted his comments to be a dig at his teammate Sanders.
However, Gabriel clarified after the game that the ‘entertainers’ he was referring to were actually the media.
