Stephen A. Smith sends clear message to Shedeur Sanders after viral locker room antics: ‘Don’t give them the ammunition’

Sanders’ move was considered bizarre by some, and now ESPN insider Adam Schefter revealed was actually a response to comments made by ESPN analyst and former NFL coach Rex Ryan. The comments have been slammed across social media and television as making Sanders look childish. ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith gave Sanders some advice on Thursday morning’s edition of ‘Get Up‘.

“I’m not requiring him to be honest”, Smith said. “I’m saying listen to [Ryan Clark] and [Dan Orlovsky] and listen to what they’re saying. You know why you’re in this predicament. Don’t give them the ammunition to judge you over something other than what’s taking place on the football field. Don’t give it to them.”

Sanders has not been active for any of Cleveland’s four games this season, instead running the scout team in practice. The reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Sanders slipped to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Up until the day of the draft, he was widely expected to come off the board in Round 1. 

He finished his first preseason in Cleveland, completing 17-of-29 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He was sacked seven times.

Jason McCourty calls out Sanders’ maturity

The Browns were always going to see what they had in either Gabriel or Sanders — or both — this season. After failing to surpass 17 points in any game, they are turning to Gabriel, who’s been ahead of Sanders in the pecking order since they were drafted.

“It’s hard for a guy like Shedeur, where you’ve been a superstar for the majority of your life and you’ve been the one in the spotlight,” former Super Bowl champion Jason McCourty told Jim Rome. “Now, the media’s showing up in the locker room and the only time they’re coming to talk to you is not about your play. It’s not about something you did on Sunday. It’s more for a reaction of what’s going on around you.”

“The one thing I’ll say is, no team in the NFL wants their third-string quarterback to be going viral for anything inside of the locker room. I don’t know what the reasoning is behind him doing the interview and not saying any words and just mouthing. I don’t know if it’s purely, he made a bet with somebody in the locker room and, ‘Look how I handle these interviews.’

“But I think there’s a maturity to it. You’ve got to grow up in the league. You may not always have the circumstances you anticipate or the ones that you want. But I don’t think those are the actions that you want, possibly your future starting quarterback in the NFL to have at any point throughout the course of their career.”

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.