QB Shedeur Sanders (12.21.25)
From HBCU to Power 5, now to the NFL. What has been most helpful to you during this NFL process?
“I would say each step. Each step been the most helpful for me because a lot of different perspectives, you know. It’s a lot of different viewpoints and different aspects of life, you know, And I feel like everything, you got to go through, you know, everything. Every moment you gotta live through, and each of those are building blocks to help you throughout whatever situation you’re in and help you be thankful also.”
Shedeur, what happened with the finger, and what was that whole episode like for you?
“I don’t know. You can look online to see what my finger look like if you want. I’m sure they got the details on there. I don’t know. My pinky was just, like…I put on my hand warmer, and I’m like, “Why is my pinky not getting cold? I mean, why is it not getting warm?” Then, like, I threw Quinshon, like, a little route down there. Then it, like, kind of was a little high, and I was like, dang. So then it was over with. And then I did everything, you know, to come back because I didn’t want to put, like, Dillon (Gabriel) in a bad situation, you know, like, since when I was a 2 (QB2). And, like, it’s tough. It’s tough to play that role because you don’t get reps. You don’t get anything. And I was talking to him. I said “My bad, bro, for putting you in that situation.” You know, because it’s not ideal and I want him to be prepared whenever he was out there, you know, so that’s really how all that went.”
Did it bug you in the second half at all with the bandage on it?
“At that point, like, I just had to accept fate. I just accepted, like, okay, this what it is. I can’t think about it. I can’t complain about it.”
Were you unable to throw a deep ball because the pinky?
“No, I don’t think. Nah. I wouldn’t have came back if I couldn’t throw.”
What you see in the Bills offense on tape that played to your advantage, it seemed like you were in the rhythm early in the game. So what were some of the things that you were able to capitalize off of?
“It’s really just building off last week. It’s building off, getting to the checkdowns. When you see it, pull it, take it. You know, playing in rhythm, like, all those different things, like, I learned and I proved to myself, you know, like, I can do that. You know, like, that’s an aspect of my game that I gotta be more consistent with, but I can see that. And like, even the last drive, for example. And I respect, and I was telling them, like, during the game, like, I respect their defense. I respect kind of like their coaching how it was, because if you understand, it was kind of like Tampa 2, that backer, MIKE (line)backer running, walling, you know, taking that middle. Because we had a through route, a vertical route from the inside. Then we had a dagger coming. And I’m like, okay, cool, I got the dagger. Like, I got the dagger. But then he peeled off and then was waiting on that dagger. So by the time I went there, then it was just hard to get back down. I ran out of time. So that’s just like, you know, in those situations, it’s like you got to tip your cap to them. Like, that’s the whole why? Because if I was playing, that’s the ideal coverage, you want a dagger in, you know what I’m saying? But anything else, you know, we’d have got to the check down, we would have got to there quicker. But that’s the why of you didn’t just take that quick completion because it was there. But that’s good coaching, but good coaching.”
When you see Quinshon go down, just first off, what’s going through your head in that moment? How do you as the quarterback, try to kind of get the rest of the guys back up?
“Yeah, well, it really hurt that Quinshon went down. Me and Quinshon was in the room talking yesterday till like 11-11:30, just like just about life, just about everything. Because of the type of person he is, and I know he been through a lot and just building that bond with the rookie class, like, having that be the new energy, you know, and kind of maintain on track, staying on track with everything. So knowing that he went down with that, it was definitely sad. It was definitely sad because I’m like, backside, I can’t throw this slant. They’re covering it, you know, they ain’t like, I can’t throw this slant. He’s heavy inside. So, yeah, so that was my only option, you know, that was my option with throwing it. So I feel bad because I threw it, you know? But, yeah, truthfully, yeah, it hurts. It hurts.”
Sometimes quarterbacks take sacks. People just say, “Oh, he’s holding the ball too long.” But to your point about the coverage adjustments and that sort of thing, what context do people miss sometimes?
“I mean, if you’re in a world of pleasing people, you’ll never be happy, you know? So I’m thankful that I was able to prove to myself, you know, that I’m able to play on time and I’m able to step up in the pocket. Like, I’m able to do that. Like, you know, you got to speak life into yourself, because if you look external for that, it’s not gonna happen, you know? So, like, you just can’t live in a world of thinking about other people’s opinion, you know? Like, you. You could take everything with a grain of salt, like, okay, cool. Like, yeah, nah I should have got to that check down. But the why was the reason. So it’s like, who am I to just sit there and argue back and forth, you know, about that? Like, that’s me, I gotta recognize and get back down, you know? So that’s just building on experience, it’s building on time. That’s building. So I look at those moments, okay, like, you got me. You gonna give me, give me now, you know, because I know in the future, all these are building blocks. These are all lessons that I’m definitely putting in my bag and gonna grow from.”
Shedeur, did they do something to increase or change their pass rush in the last two series? Because it seemed like they were jumping on you pretty quickly.
“I’m not sure. I just know I just gotta probably just get the ball out a little quicker. That’s it. Yeah.”
What’s the mindset on that fourth and two, obviously could have been a punt situation. You guys go for the fourth down. What was going through your mind at that time?
“Can you kind of like explain what happened? I just played a lot of plays.”
Did you feel like it was the right decision to go for it on fourth and two?
“I know you can’t be asking me that question, man. Come on, man. We can’t see that, that’s like the thing. Like, if we want to change the narrative, change the franchise, if we want to help, we got to speak life. You can’t. Those type of things separate us. Like, a lot of the players, like, get these type of questions, and then we want to be working with y’all. We want to be proactive. But, like, when you ask questions or when questions are asked to us players and it’s like you pinning stuff against each other, it’s like, come on now. It’s like a thing in the locker room. Like, you know, we’re not gonna be able to talk to them for real. We’re not gonna be able to give them what they need, like, because that separates the team. That don’t help anything. It don’t help anything in any situation, no matter how you answer it.”
Working with your tight end, Harold Fannin (Jr.), it seemed like he had plays scripted and then did the Bills try to take them away later in the game? Because you were very effective with him early on.
“Yeah, I think a lot of teams try to attack us in different ways. You know, whether that’s exotics, whether that’s pressures, whether that’s doubling somebody, whether that’s something. And now thinking about that fourth and two, you know, they had great defense, great everything. So you look at their front side safety, you look at him, and then you gotta see where he buzzed down and everything happened so quick to where…That takes time for y’all to be on the same page and know when they, okay, this is a certain type of route. You know, it’s gonna develop a little bit, but in certain situations, you can speed up and you can get there quicker. So that’s about seeing in the same lens. That’s about the time on task. That’s about a lot of different things, and those processes is just something you just gonna have to be able to grind through. “
Shedeur, a lot of the conversation this past week was about you completing more passes, and you did that today. So was that the theme of the practice week for you?
“No, it’s just a mental thing. It was kind of like, understand that winning in this game, in the league is play by play. So you got to play each play for what it is. And don’t try to do a lot, you know, and try to take what’s there and try to do that. So oftentimes, like in the past now, I want to win, you know, so I’m trying to get to it instead of like, slow down, you know, take the check down, take what’s in front of you, take the easy stuff, do what you got to do.
And as the game goes on and as time goes on, you’re going to be able to chop it down, you’re going to be able to move the ball, keep getting completions. So it was just a mentality. It was just something like that. I just had to like, focus on mentally, you know, and that in the aspect of when to get to it.”
You talked about ‘the why’ a lot today. Is that maybe the biggest thing you’ve started trying to grasp over the course of these five starts, is ‘the why’ of what happened the last play and changing it going forward?
“Yeah, I think when you explain ‘the why,’ then you able to understand perspective. So that’s why we, even in the quarterback room, it’s like, ‘okay, why’d you miss this read?’ Like, ‘this was the why, this is what I’m thinking’. So at times, sometimes we gotta put things in the simplest form to understand the exact thought process and not assume. That’s why. That’s why I break it down, that’s why I say that, because, like, it don’t take much. We not far from success. It’s all of us thinking the same thing at the same time – that’s all it is. And I think we get closer to it, I think each and every day, each and every game, each and every rep we get closer to everything. So, I’m excited for it, I’m excited for everything. I definitely didn’t love the outcome of this game, but I understand it’s a lot that we did win. You know, we won mentally today, and that’s something I’ll take and move forward with.”
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