Browns' Shedeur Sanders seems to be taking QB3 duties seriously amid criticisms

Cleveland Browns rookie QB Shedeur Sanders faced criticism even before silently responding to questions about fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel starting Sunday’s game against the 2-2 Minnesota Vikings.

During a recent chat with ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi, Sanders discussed how he has embraced his role as the club's QB3. Part of his duties includes running the scout team for practices. 

Shedeur Sanders reveals what his "game day" is with Browns

"It's concepts. Anytime you're throwing the ball, there's only so many ways you can get to different spots," Sanders explained. "I just enjoy it, and like I say, that's my game day. It's my game day."

Those practices are the closest Sanders has gotten to a game-day experience since he took five sacks and completed just 3-of-6 pass attempts for 14 yards in Cleveland's preseason finale versus the Los Angeles Rams in August. Gabriel made two late-game cameos in September before Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski made the quarterback switch this week. Meanwhile, Sanders has been buried on the depth chart since the end of preseason play. 

"On Wednesdays, there's a scout team meeting, so we'll go in there, and defensive coaches will go over the cards to kind of give us a heads-up," Cleveland practice squad quarterback Bailey Zappe added about what he and Sanders do during the week. "Because Wednesday is kind of like the bulk, that's your bigger practice. Those are the practices that you practice the most. So, they want to get those fine-tuned."

Is Shedeur Sanders any closer to seeing playing time?

Former NFL head coach and current analyst Rex Ryan generated headlines when he recently suggested he had learned Sanders needed to work harder behind the scenes. Veteran Joe Flacco, who started for Cleveland over the season's first four weeks, will be Gabriel's primary backup when the 1-3 Browns face the Vikings in London.

"He needs to continue to do exactly what he’s been doing and continue to do what all these guys are doing, which is just keep working," Stefanski said when asked Friday what Sanders needs to do to move himself up to the QB2 spot. 

For now, Flacco will be called into action if Gabriel is sidelined for any reason at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.