QB Shedeur Sanders (12.3.25)
Shedeur, Kevin (Stefanski) said that Deshaun’s (Watson) gonna practice for the first time today. How much are you looking forward to him being out there with you?
“I feel like it’s great he’s going out there to practice. I know he’s been working hard to recover and doing everything he’s able to do for this day.”
And how has he been a help to you? Just maybe with installing the game plan or just they keep talking about how much he’s been a help to you guys. Can you share a little bit of that?
“Yeah. What we do in there, we gonna keep it in there for sure.”
Shedeur, your relationship with Cam (Ward) has been pretty, you know, well documented, obviously due to the pre-draft process. Just how excited are you, how much have you gotten to know him and then how excited are you to – obviously you don’t go against him head-to-head because he’s not on defense – but to sort of duel with him on Sunday?
“Well, I would say I’m just excited for the opportunity to go out there and play. And being able to, you know, last week’s showing wasn’t the best, so just having the opportunity to go out there and play.”
Shedeur, you talked about feel. It has to be a feel for you. Just where have you felt like that feel has gotten better with the starts you’ve got?
“I say day by day. Live action by live action. You know, I see my faults and I see, you know, what I do good and what I need to work on, so I definitely take that in consideration whenever I go and prepare in everything I do and if I need to see more pictures of certain things, then I got do what’s necessary for me to be successful.”
Is it hard to be stay patient as you’re growing as an NFL quarterback?
“What do you mean by that?”
Well, as you know, you want to be great right away, but maybe it takes time to be great. So, do you have to be patient as you develop?
“I don’t view things as like patient. I guess that’s the outside world. That’s nothing I live in within my world. I think I’m more determined and focused on knowing I gotta do what it takes to get the results, for the team, for us that we need to be successful. So, I think there’s certain things that – certain areas that I need to improve in, quickly. Just because I’m a rookie, that’s not really an excuse out there.”
Shedeur, what would you say is kind of the nature of your relationship with Cam, and what was it like, you know, training alongside with him during the pre-draft process?
“Yeah, Cam’s competitive, it’s always fun, you know, getting out there, training with him. And then, we both ended up getting drafted, and we both went our separate ways. And that’s really everybody that I played in college with almost, you know, everybody’s focused on what they got to do, and it’s all love whenever we see each other.”
But not a lot of communication since the draft between you.
“I would say, I don’t really communicate with any players, even the ones I played with at Colorado. All that stuff will probably happen later on down the road, but not right now. We all focused on what we got to do to be great.”
You got a lot on your plate, being the quarterback now. Is playing against Cam add any juice to this day for you?
“Nah, I think it’s nothing extra within myself. And I’m thinking, oh, like, just playing against another opponent, you know, it’s another week. It’s a lot of great quarterbacks, you know, week by week that we play against. So, I wouldn’t say this adds anything.”
Shedeur, the CBS cameras captured a sideline encounter between you and Jerry (Jeudy).
“Yeah, we resolved that. We’re not going to speak on that.”
I was just wondering if you guys were cool with each other.
“I would hope so.”
What’s your relationship like with Jerry? What has it been like since you’ve gotten here and since you’ve become a starter?
“I would think, like, when I’m not playing, when I’m a starter, it’s the same. You know, I wouldn’t say people treat you better, that you start now, you know, like it’s normal.”
You talked about how, you know, you have to get more time on task to see the same things. You being in that quarterback spot, what do you like to do with your receivers, outside of practice to make sure that you guys are seeing the same things?
“I would say overall, I would say just being able to get on the same page and trust. The hardest thing in this game right now is having trust. Having trust in everybody. Certain movements, certain ways we make eye contact, like, certain things are so detailed, and that’s how I play very comfortably. So that’s how I get in my comfort zone. That’s how I get in my bag. That’s how I’m able to do that. So, it’s different because this is a different year. It’s not a traditional way; it’s not a traditional situation. And that’s okay, cause it’s a challenge. And I know we’re gonna be able to overcome the challenge, but it just expedites everything. And you just go out there and just take risks. It is what it is.”
You talk about some of the areas of watching the film back that you want to improve on. What are some of those areas that you’ve been targeting?
“Like I say, go out there and just pull the trigger. Well, nah, that’s not a great term. But what I mean by that is, like, go out there and see it and just hit it, you know? See it and hit it. Trust my eyes understand everything that I’ve been studying, and the game, I’ll say, is slowing down a little bit for me, and just trust what I see.”
Kevin has talked about how Deshaun has been helpful in meetings. Can you open up on that?
“Yeah, they just asked about that.”
I was hoping that you would talk about not just on the sideline, but how he’s helping you guys in meetings?
“Well, I’d say for sure, what we do in the meeting room, we keep to ourselves. Y’ all able to see what we able to do in public and whatever, but whenever we in the building, we kind of keep that between us.”
Is trusting your eyes and taking risks the same thing?
“I would say trust takes time. Trust takes time. Taking risks is like hope. It’s seeing it, but then it’s a bit of hope in there. I think if you just met somebody, it’s gonna take you a little minute to trust them, right? To trust their directions, to trust what they see. If you’re backing out of a parking spot and somebody just directing you and you drive your car, I don’t think you’re just gonna trust, for sure, everything they say and everything. So, I think it takes time and time on task and being in different battles with each other, being able to see, review everything. So, that’s where I’ll say the trust component comes in.”
When you have a little bit more of that feeling, will that translate to probably getting rid of the ball a lot quicker?
“Yeah, I don’t…I would say, sometimes I look for the big play, and I do that when I feel like I’m pressing. Like, I feel like we need to get a spark, we need to get the energy, that’s typically when I do that – whenever we stagnant. So, that’s something I review with myself, and I know in those situations, I can’t do that at certain times. But that’s just something, I live and I’m gonna grow from in doing that. And just trusting the team, trusting everybody, that things are going to be all right.”
A play is literally a couple of seconds, right? And there’s so much you have to process. Like, when you’re in the middle of a play and you’ve got the ball in your hand, right, and you’re going through what you’re seeing on the field. What is that experience like, and how do you balance the thinking, intelligent part versus the instinct part of the game that happens in those two, three, four seconds?
“I would say it definitely comes from preparation and studying. But like I said, it all comes down to the trusting. It comes down to time on task, comes down to reps, it comes down to all that different type of stuff. And I know I have to think, and I would say do things just a little different, because the lack of their time that we have on task. So, I have to adjust kind of like my process a little bit, and for us to be able to have consistent success and for us to be able to go out there and execute everything.”
How do you have to adjust your process? In what ways do you adjust your process there?
“I mean, I just can’t spill all the beans now. You gonna ask me what’s the game plan this week next? But I don’t know. Like I say, just trusting my eyes, believing the preparation I’ve been doing. Everything has been working, and I get out there, and I see it, and that’s what I’m most excited about. And I know the results are going to come when they come. I feel like they’re going to come soon. But the fact I’m able to go out there and I’m able to see it, that’s what brings me joy on the inside.”
When you look at that (Tennessee) Titans defense, does it start with (Jeffery) Simmons, and then what else jumps out about them?
“You want to know what plays you running next, dude?”
What do you like about their defense? Jeffrey Simmons, what stands out about him as a player?
“He’s a great player. You know his name, and we all know his name for sure. So, he’s definitely a great player, and he’s great human being. He’s a great player.”
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