Report: Shedeur Sanders bizarre interview was a response to Rex Ryan

Former CU Buffs and current Cleveland Brown QB Shedeur Sanders gave a bizarre “interview” on Wednesday.

In fact, he didn’t talk at all.

Sanders acted like a mime when asked about the Browns benching starter Joe Flacco and turning to fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel. However, the ex-Colorado star didn’t move up the Cleveland depth chart, as he’s still their No. 3 quarterback.

The antics have obviously gone viral, but a few hours after it happened, ESPN’s Adam Schefter provided some clarification as to exactly why Shedeur Sanders is acting this way.

It has to do with former NFL coach and current ESPN analyst Rex Ryan.

Shedeur Sanders pantomiming today was in response to ESPN analyst Rex Ryan criticizing the rookie QB earlier this week. Here is what Ryan said Monday on Get Up that led to Sanders pantomiming answers today about Cleveland’s QB change and him remaining QB3: pic.twitter.com/MDRWz8hb4h

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 1, 2025

“Something’s missing with this kid. This kid talks, he runs his mouth like ‘I could be a starting quarterback’ with his arms crossed like this. Get your a** in the front row and study and do all that,” Ryan said.

It’s unclear how Schefter is sourcing this, but one could guess that someone in the Sanders camp relayed an explanation. Clearly, the miming isn’t being received well, so now they’re trying to clear the air.

In one sense, it’s funny, because Sanders is trying to show Ryan and others he’s not all about the talk. On the other side of the coin, it seems to be a very inside joke. The average NFL fan isn’t going to understand it.

Regardless, Shedeur Sanders remains far away from seeing the field for the Browns in regular season action. Until then, he keeps creating headlines, something his father Deion Sanders is quite good at as well.

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