Browns Shedeur Sanders Speaks Out on Current Role

Shedeur Sanders has his work cut out for him if he hopes to earn the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback job before Week 1.

As the team opened up training camp earlier in the week, the rookie fifth-round pick currently finds himself situated as the No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart, behind veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.

That's nothing particularly new for Sanders, who spent most of spring workouts in the exact same role among his quarterback peers. Between spring ball and the first few days of camp, Sanders remains the only QB on the roster who hasn't taken any first-team reps during practice.

In what's been labeled an "open competition" since the spring by head coach Kevin Stefanski, the lack of reps with the top unit would suggest the fifth-round pick has a pretty steep hill to climb to win the starting job.

While that may be true, Sanders isn't letting something that he has no control over bother him.

"That's not my place to answer, to even be able to give the answer to that," Sanders said when asked why he hasn't received any first team reps at this point. "...It is 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. So whenever that is, it is, but it doesn't make me feel down or it doesn't make me feel left out or anything because I know who I am as a person. I know who I am as an individual and I know what I could bring to this team so I can never feel less than in any circumstance."

It's the right attitude for any quarterback to take into a competition for the job, but especially a young one hoping to rise up the depth chart quickly. On multiple occasions, Sanders has talked about getting away from any potential distractions and focusing solely on football as he looks to crack his first NFL roster.

That's included working out in his helmet and jersey at local high schools during the team's summer break. During the five weeks, Sanders says he was able to become more comfortable with the playbook.

With so much on his plate and so much to seemingly overcome in this competition, Sanders lost sight of the ultimate goal: winning the starting QB job.

"I don't think nobody in this organization is here if they're not trying to win, honestly," he said. "I think they're trying to win who gives out the best water and Gatorades out here. So it is definitely a competition. Everything in life. It's so many cameras out here. It is definitely competition with content obviously too. So I think everything in life boils down to competition."

There's no questioning Sanders is taking the right approach to the competition. Whether that ends with him under center against the Cincinnati Bengals in early Sept. remains to be seen.