Shedeur Sanders claims he was not trying to discredit the New Orleans Saints with his viral comments about the defense. He would “never talk down another opponent or another team.”
Technically speaking, that is true!
The second-year NFL quarterback did not speak ill of the Saints. However, his body language spoke much louder than words and he should know by know that will always be the case whenever he opens his mouth by nature of who he is and how he acts.
The New Orleans Saints were excited to face the Cleveland Browns.
Todd Monken named Shedeur Sanders as the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns on Friday while Deshaun Watson continues to recover from a concussion. Sunday marked the former sixth-round NFL Draft pick’s first start of the 2026-27 season.
When asked about the opportunity to get back on the field, and what he saw from his opponent on film, Sanders gave a smug grin and pretty clearly implied that he saw multiple ways to exploit the Saints’ defense. There was not really another way to interpret what he said (or didn’t say) because he didn’t say what he actually meant.
As you could imagine, word made its way back to New Orleans. Sanders’ comments lit a fire under the defense. Defensive end Carl Granderson made direct reference to the viral clip. It put a chip on his shoulder.
Regardless of what Sanders was actually trying to say, his opponent used his press conference as bulletin board material and most people would agree that he knew exactly what he was doing. His smirk was not subtle.
Shedeur Sanders tried to downplay his comments.
AJ Ross spoke with Shedeur Sanders on Sunday morning before kickoff. She asked him about his viral press conference and the Saints’ interpretation. He made it seem like no big deal. New Orleans and the media took him out of context.
That, obviously, was not the case. Nobody took him out of context because he said (or didn’t say) exactly what he said (or didn’t say). It was not hard to figure out what Sanders meant. The Saints made sure to make a statement.
New Orleans held Cleveland to less than 200 total yards and only six points through the first three quarters of the game. Sanders also squandered an opportunity to get into the end zone by turning the wrong way on a handoff at the goal line.
Shedeur sanders deadass ran into his own guy on the handoff and the browns don’t score pic.twitter.com/7BSNJUuJ31
— John (@iam_johnw) November 8, 2026
The quarterback’s poor play, in addition to the pregame fodder, is the perfect encapsulation of the Shedeur Sanders experience. He fell to the sixth round of the NFL Draft because nobody wanted to deal with his approach to the media and his attitude because he is not good enough to make it worth the tradeoff. The Browns were the only team willing to take on the media circus. It has not paid off for them thus far.