QB Shedeur Sanders (12.28.25)
So how’d that feel, Shedeur, to get the win against a rival team that was trying to clinch a playoff spot?
“It felt good getting a win overall and especially the team we won against. I think it’s been bittersweet because I feel like the offense, we got to do our part. I got to do my part a little bit more, we can’t be happy with only 13 points on the board. So, we just got to be able to put up more points.”
To get that win, though, your first win here at home. How cool is that in front of the fans?
“Yeah, it’s extremely exciting to get the win at home, for sure. I’ve been needing to win at home for a minute, so that’s what’s good, that’s what I’m excited for, that we brought that feeling back in this place.”
Shedeur, you started out hot the first two series, and then there was a lull. Did they adjust to you or just a tough fought game throughout?
“I’m not sure, honestly. They got good players, they got good coaches, too. So of course, whenever we’re having a lot of success, they’re gonna make adjustments and everything. But I haven’t watched the film to be able to know exactly. I know there were a couple passes, like, for sure, to get back down to the check down, to get back down to there, but I just didn’t do it. So, it’s just something to learn from.”
Can you address the nice job that Harold Fannin (Jr.) did on the touchdown catch? And then how tough was it then to see him have to leave the game after that with a groin injury?
“Yeah, I mean, we kind of knew going into the game he was banged up, so it wasn’t really like super surprising. We got great players ‘on the Hungry Dawgs,’ so Sal (Cannella) was able to come back in and be able to get his feet wet.”
I heard Snoop (Tyler Huntley) called you before the game.
“Yeah, no I called him. I don’t know, I gotta check my phone. But I think I had a missed call from him or a text, something. I don’t know that I just called me at like, 6:30am, called him. I’m like, ‘dang bro, why you still up?’ He was like, ‘bro, I’m excited, bro’. He was excited they just got the win, and he was definitely words of encouragement and stuff for me, but that’s just how he is. Like, he not just doing that just because it gives them a chance now, I think the overall person he is and the time that we had spent together, he did nothing but speak life into me and I truly appreciate him for that.”
How much have you guys, as an offense, grown to appreciate what Andre Szmyt’s been able to do since those early season struggles and now he’s been so consistent?
“Yeah, I’ll say, just the relationship with Andre, we had a conversation when he was going through it, and then since then it’s been nothing but up. So, I’m very happy that he was able to get out that hole that he was in and that he’s able to see the other side of things. I think, like, that’s the only thing I think about whenever I look at him, whenever I see him, I’m just excited, I’m just happy that he was able to see the other side of things.”
How impressive was that performance from the defense that you guys stopped scoring for a bit there? They were able to hold the fort.
“Yeah, that’s how the Browns defense usually is. That’s how they usually are.”
Shedeur, seven weeks ago, you came into a home game against the Baltimore Ravens, and you felt that you didn’t play that well in your first opportunity. What would you say about your maturation and your growth since then, to have this home victory against a division rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers?
“I’ll say overall, I’m able to see the field and the game slow down for sure. I think the main thing is, like, I just like throwing the ball a lot. And in some situations, you can’t just throw your dog a bone sometimes, you got to be able to know when it’s calculated risk. But like, I feel like our players are better than their players, so I just gave my guy a chance and we just ain’t come down with it. And that’s just how I go.”
A lot of the vets and a lot of people are talking about how they’re not really worried about draft pick position and stuff like that and how really like their focus as players is about, especially Joel (Bitonio), he said this is about setting the culture for a lot of the young guys like you and the rookie class. You’ve talked about changing the culture, how do you think that this win takes a step forward in doing that?
“I think in the building and everything we’ve been pretty consistent with what we’ve been doing, the only difference is now we got the result we were supposed to get. So, I don’t think the difference between a win and loss is a couple of plays. It wasn’t about how you’re going about your business, how you’re doing everything. Everybody’s going about they business the same way, everybody’s extremely locked in, extremely focused on what they got to do. But today we just got the result we was looking for.”
Hey Shedeur, did you know Snoop before he was here with you at training camp?
“Not personally, no.”
So how did that connection between you two develop as quickly as it did?
“I think because I always smile and he always smiling. I think that’s what it is. And then we just like just talked, and just had a conversation about God and why he feels like he was sent here, just to give me them words of encouragement to keep me going, and understand his story and understand how things panned out for him also. So, he always told me, ‘be ready,’ and anytime I talk to him, he’s always positive. People with the same vibe usually get along with each other.”
Did you watch the game last night?
“I watched like one drive and then I went to sleep. Yeah, I be going to sleep early nowadays. I feel like I be running out of time.”
Even though the season didn’t go away then guys wanted it too, it really seems like there’s a close-knit bond on this football team, a brotherhood. There’s something special going on here. Can you describe what that is and how you feel about it?
“I think it’s a group of guys that been through a lot of things within themselves, and I think we all like banding together and being one through any situation, through like things that we can’t control. We all agree with a lot of things, and I think we the cornerstone of this team.”
If you could give yourself advice for that first time you walked out to the field to where you are, kind of like another chance. If you could set that you could give yourself a message today for the first time you walked outfit, what would you say? What did you need to know?
“I would say definitely know you’re supposed to be out there dominating. I think what you kind of gotta understand also like sitting and everything like that and just watching like it’s a mental thing. So it’s like, dang, you start questioning a lot of things, you know, and then sometimes you gotta… Like me, like before the game and stuff, I gotta like have a lot like built up anger, like within myself. Because like that’s why I gotta play with that fire, with that different emotion within me, you know? And I think when you go out there the first time, I think it’s more of like, “Dang, like this dude over there, like, they cool.” But then like when you actually out there, you’re like, “I don’t care who it is. I’m trying to dominate them,” you know? So I think it’s that. It’s kind of like what I do in the pocket sometimes, like whenever people be falling and stuff, yeah, kind of like that.”
A little bit unrelated to football, but I saw pregame that somebody gifted you a really big carpet. How was that?
“We got it at the house now. Yeah, I really love gifts. I don’t think for Christmas I got much. So, if anybody out there want to send me gifts, I’ll post my P.O. Box online. And just please send clothes, anything, jewelry, bags, because all my bags got stolen when my house got robbed (joking). So appreciate y’all.”
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