Deion Sanders reveals why Shedeur Sanders told him not to attend Browns training camp

Days after visiting Shilo Sanders on the first day of Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp, Deion Sanders offered up the same family meetup to his other son, Shedeur Sanders, who’s in the middle of a quarterback competition with the Cleveland Browns.

Focused on the underdog role amid the four-player battle as a rookie, Shedeur wanted no distractions.

“Shedeur told me not to come,” Sanders said during an interview with Michael Irvin. “He didn’t want me to come. He was like, ‘Dad, I may get three, four reps in practice. I don’t want you seeing that. No, I’m not where I want to be. Let me get where I need to be.’ It’s so funny because this is his first time ever, and he’s dealing with it like a pro. He ain’t mad. He ain’t bitter. 

“He’s like, ‘I got work to do but I’m going to put in this work. One thing, they’re going to have to let me play, preseason is going to come. When preseason comes, watch me work.'”

The fifth-round pick has seen very few first-team reps during the opening days of training camp, but that could change with Kenny Pickett nursing a hamstring injury. Pickett had been sharing first-team duties with veteran Joe Flacco with both players ahead of Gabriel and Sanders in Cleveland’s pecking order.

“Whenever I get my opportunity, I gotta maximize it,” Sanders said last week. “I just gotta think about what I could do to get better even if I’m not getting reps. It’s no problem.”

At the start of camp this month, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said he has a tentative idea of his quarterback depth chart, but that can always change based on how each player performs in different situations. He has spoken highly of Sanders and Gabriel throughout the offseason.

“With all things depth chart, certainly quarterback, I have a plan that’s in pencil,” Stefanski said. “We have to take in information every day, take in how guys are handling certain situations and adjust from there. We’ll get to those types of decisions later on.”

While it’s unlikely Cleveland keeps four quarterbacks on its 53-man roster for the regular season, Browns general manager Andrew Berry recently confirmed that’s not out of the question if the team deems four signal callers “worthy” of making the roster.

Pickett was the first quarterback acquisition this offseason for the Browns after Cleveland completed a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for Dorian Thompson-Robinson. After the Browns kicked the tires before failing to sign Russell Wilson this offseason, they landed Flacco on a one-year, incentives-enhanced deal. 

Gabriel was a third-round selection in April and Cleveland’s front office saw enough traits they liked to make him the fifth quarterback taken behind first-rounders Cameron Ward and Jaxson Dart along with Tyler Shough in the second round and Jalen Milroe at No. 92 overall.

Berry said the pre-draft plan for the Browns was never to take two quarterbacks, but Sanders offered a unique opportunity.

“We do believe in best player available, we do believe in positional value, and we didn’t necessarily expect him to be available in the fifth round,” Berry said after the draft.