Shedeur Sanders left many confused when he responded to reporters\u2019 questions about the Cleveland Browns benching Joe Flacco in favor of Dillon Gabriel by acting like a mime.<\/p>\n
But according to Adam Schefter, the context is clear.<\/p>\n
Discussing Sanders\u2019 mime act during Thursday\u2019s episode of Get Up, the ESPN senior NFL insider said that the former Colorado star\u2019s non-verbal Q&A session<\/a> was a response to Rex Ryan. Coupled with a social media post from Wednesday<\/a>, Schefter\u2019s belief appears to be based more on reporting than opinion, providing new details to what has emerged as one of the NFL\u2019s more surprising storylines this season.<\/p>\n \u201cWith all due respect to the sky-high ratings on Monday, a lot of people are probably unaware that Rex Ryan ripped him and he\u2019s responding to Rex Ryan,\u201d Schefter said on Thursday. \u201cSo people see this clip and they say, \u2018what is this guy doing here?\u2019 without realizing the actual context to it. And now that we do even realize the context, here we are, we\u2019re 10 minutes into the show and we\u2019re talking more about Shedeur Sanders than Dillon Gabriel, who\u2019s going up against the Minnesota Vikings and Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator in Minnesota, in London on Sunday in what amounts to a very big game for the Browns and the Vikings.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Schefter on Shedeur Sanders\u2019 mime act: \u201cA lot of people are probably unaware that Rex Ryan ripped him and he\u2019s responding to Rex Ryan. So people see this clip and they say, \u2018what is this guy doing here?\u2019 without realizing the actual context to it.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/iyogDrdj1T<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 2, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n As Schefter referenced, Ryan ripped Sanders on Monday\u2019s episode of Get Up<\/a> during a discussion regarding the rookie\u2019s recent comment<\/a> that he\u2019s capable of providing better quarterback play than some of the league\u2019s current starters. While the former New York Jets was hardly the only person to criticize Sanders for the remark, his rant did go viral and even elicited a response from the signal-caller\u2019s mother, who referred to the ESPN analyst as \u201ccancerous.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n But while Schefter\u2019s reporting might explain why Shedeur Sanders didn\u2019t give a verbal answer on Wednesday, it doesn\u2019t change the perception that his response was an immature one. It would have been just as easy for the 23-year-old to have provided clich\u00e9 quarterback-speak answers, as opposed to a reaction that generated additional headlines.<\/p>\n EvenAdam\u00a0 Schefter admitted that the additional context his reporting provided didn\u2019t stop the Cleveland Browns third-string quarterback from being the lead story on ESPN\u2019s morning programming on Thursday. And while one could certainly question that decision from an editorial standpoint, it would be tough to argue that Sanders didn\u2019t invite the attention with his behavior.<\/p>\n \t