After a highly-publicized approach to figuring out a starting quarterback, the Cleveland Browns are entering Week 2 of the season with Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback. Still, the franchise has expressed that it’s committed to the development of both its rookie quarterbacks: Dillon Gabriel, who is Flacco’s primary backup, and Shedeur Sanders, who is QB3 and serves as the emergency quarterback on game days.
However, a recent report has people wondering just how committed the Browns are to actually developing Sanders. On Thursday’s edition of The Tony Rizzo show, Rizzo announced that he’s hearing that Sanders isn’t running scout team. The rookie also isn’t getting reps with the offense since he’s QB3, so according to Rizzo, and who he’s hearing things from, Sanders is just watching everyone else practice.
"I'm hearing Shedeur isn't even running scout team, he's literally watching everyone... why is he on the team, why is he here?," - @TheRealTRizzo on what he's hearing about Shedeur Sanders. pic.twitter.com/Mtx6bs0rZL
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) September 11, 2025
Shedeur Sanders reportedly isn’t even getting scout team reps for Browns
To be fair, this is just what Rizzo is hearing. It’s important to remember that during the season, the media is only allowed to view a small portion of practice. That means, barring someone leaking information, the details of Cleveland’s practices are unknown.
However, if what Rizzo is hearing is true, it’s understandable that people would be left asking why that’s the case and how is Sanders expected to develop without reps. It could just be the Browns mismanaging a situation, which wouldn’t be surprising, or it could be a part of a development plan that people outside the organization don’t know about.
Giving Cleveland the benefit of the doubt, an argument could be made that Sanders isn’t running the scout team because the team wants him to spend all his time learning and watching the Browns’ actual offense. While that would make sense, it’d still be baffling for him to not be getting any live reps at all, especially when he’s just two plays away from being under center for the team.
Ultimately, no one really knows what’s going on, or what Cleveland’s plan is, and that pretty much sums up the Browns. Fans just have to wait and hope everything works itself out for the betterment of the franchise.