With Cleveland Browns training camp well under way, former Colorado Buffaloes rookie Shedeur Sanders reportedly had a "breakout day" at practice on Saturday, the fourth day of Cleveland's training camp.
ESPN Cleveland has recorded stats during the team periods of training camp, and Sanders had his best statistical performance on Saturday. The rookie quarterback's touchdown numbers might be inflated because of red zone opportunities, but Sanders' stats stand out among the rest.
Sanders showed off the deep ball with a touchdown pass to Browns receiver Luke Floriea. Cleveland reporter Grant Puskar said that Sanders had his best day of practice so far.
SHEDEUR DIME TD pic.twitter.com/XCfphHST8O
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) July 26, 2025
In addition to completing over 70 percent of his passes (8-11), Sanders also threw three touchdowns. Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett threw two touchdowns of his own while rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel had one touchdown pass on Saturday.
Still, Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski and his staff are giving both rookies a chance to develop during training camp. ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi reported that Gabriel and Pickett threw with the first team offense during a seven-on-seven period, but the 11-on-11 reps in the red zone were split differently: Pickett with the first team, Sanders with the second team, and Gabriel with the third team.
Much has been made about Sanders throwing to equipment guys instead of Cleveland wide receivers, but the former Buffaloes star is still receiving reps and building connections with Browns receivers like Diontae Johnson.
During his time at Colorado, Sanders proved himself as one of the most accurate passers in the country. He broke multiple records with the Buffaloes, including the single season record for completion percentage, in his senior year. For his efforts, Sanders won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given annually to the best college quarterback in the country.
Highlights of Sanders' throws at practice have been posted online, like this deep touchdown to receiver Luke Floriea.
Sanders' touchdown pass to Johnson during seven-on-seven:
Shedeur Sanders finds Diontae Johnson in the back of the end zone for a TD during more red zone work pic.twitter.com/BNExeyX43m
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) July 26, 2025
Sanders answered questions from the media on Friday, and he talked about his preparation for each practice as he works to make the roster, let alone compete for the starting quarterback job.
"Before practice, of course, it’s jotting down all the plays, and it starts the night before, of course. But training camp, you get a lot of different plays each day, and you don’t know who’s gonna get in what. So that’s the exciting challenge that it is. Like, dang, you don’t even know what reps you gonna get. So, you gotta be ready for everything," said Sanders.
Sanders was asked about throwing to equipment guys, and the Browns rookie truly seems prepared for whatever comes up in training camp.
“It doesn’t really faze me. You got to understand, we came all the way from HBCU to Power Five, and now we here. So, at this point, if you look around, there’s nothing, that’s a challenge, I say," Sanders told reporters.
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