Browns' Shedeur Sanders reacts to media criticism amid Deshaun Watson competition

Second-year pro Shedeur Sanders became one of the more polarizing figures in the NFL long before he took his first in-game snap as a member of the Cleveland Browns last fall. 

Sanders is currently competing with veteran Deshaun Watson for the Browns' starting quarterback job. During a recent appearance on the "This is Football" podcast, Sanders touched upon how he handles what is said and written about him by certain media members. 

Shedeur Sanders is done focusing on things he doesn't "respect"

Per Megan Armstrong of Awful Announcing, Sanders told show host Kevin Clark that he focused on "understanding what really matters in this world and what doesn’t" during the offseason. Sanders explained he embraced such a mindset "when everything changed for me" and "when the script got flipped on me." 

"I don’t think there’s anything negative about it, but I don’t really like when people have platforms and don’t use it for the right reasons," Sanders continued. "I don’t respect it. So, it’s like, things I don’t respect, I don’t give my time to." 

Back in January 2025, many members of the football community assumed Sanders would become one of the top picks of that year's draft. However, his supposed handling of the predraft process allegedly caused him to fall to the fifth round of the player-selection process before the Browns grabbed him at pick No. 144. 

More recently, former safety Shilo Sanders, Shedeur's brother, attracted attention this past spring when he accused one Browns reporter of sharing opinions that were "always something hateful to Shedeur." That same reporter said on Thursday that she feels Watson would be the Browns' 2026 Week 1 starter "if the season started tomorrow." 

How Shedeur Sanders is attempting to ignore outside noise

Clark asked Shedeur Sanders about specific criticisms or takes the signal-caller has seen on television amid the Browns' ongoing quarterback competition. 

"I don’t watch TV," Shedeur Sanders explained. "I don’t watch TV at all."

Both Shedeur Sanders and Watson should receive opportunities to impress first-year Browns head coach Todd Monken during Cleveland's preseason opener at the Chicago Bears on Aug. 15. Sanders could produce quite a strong response to critics by outplaying Watson at Soldier Field on that Saturday afternoon.