Shedeur Sanders made sure to quiet any talk that he doesn’t support fellow rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel by taking to social media ahead of the Cleveland Browns‘ Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings in London.
Gabriel, a third-round pick out of Oregon, will start the first game of his NFL career on Sunday. Meanwhile, Sanders will remain the third-string/emergency quarterback behind veteran Joe Flacco, whom the Browns demoted in favor of Gabriel earlier this week.
“Joe is the backup,” head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed during a media session on Friday. “Shedeur is the emergency quarterback.”
Sanders hasn’t held back his opinion that he’s ready to play in the NFL right now.
However, the fifth-round pick out of Colorado took to his personal Instagram account on Saturday and made a point to show everyone that he supports Gabriel heading into the contest with the Vikings.
Sanders captioned the post to his story with one word before tagging Gabriel.
“#Dawgs,” Sanders wrote.
The post also functions as a message of support to Gabriel himself, after the two spent the summer battling for position on the depth chart.
Gabriel ultimately out-dueled Sanders during training camp and the preseason to claim the QB2 spot behind Flacco. Sanders landed as the third-string signal-caller after Cleveland traded fourth-year QB Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders for a fifth-round pick ahead of the regular season.
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Flacco started the first four games of the year, leading the Browns to a 1-3 record with a struggling offense producing just 14 points per contest. Stefanski removed Flacco after he completed just 58.1% of his 160 pass attempts for 815 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions.
Gabriel faces a uniquely difficult first start, as it is on a neutral field in a foreign country and against a quality defense in Minnesota that is known for confusing quarterbacks, especially those without a great deal of experience. The Vikings have the third-best pass defense in the NFL, allowing 151.5 passing yards per game.
The Browns were 3.5-point underdogs on Saturday night, per ESPN BET.
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