Shedeur Sanders left many confused when he responded to reporters’ questions about the Cleveland Browns benching Joe Flacco in favor of Dillon Gabriel by acting like a mime.
But according to Adam Schefter, the context is clear.
Discussing Sanders’ mime act during Thursday’s episode of Get Up, the ESPN senior NFL insider said that the former Colorado star’s non-verbal Q&A session was a response to Rex Ryan. Coupled with a social media post from Wednesday, Schefter’s belief appears to be based more on reporting than opinion, providing new details to what has emerged as one of the NFL’s more surprising storylines this season.
“With all due respect to the sky-high ratings on Monday, a lot of people are probably unaware that Rex Ryan ripped him and he’s responding to Rex Ryan,” Schefter said on Thursday. “So people see this clip and they say, ‘what is this guy doing here?’ without realizing the actual context to it. And now that we do even realize the context, here we are, we’re 10 minutes into the show and we’re talking more about Shedeur Sanders than Dillon Gabriel, who’s 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.”
Adam Schefter on Shedeur Sanders’ mime act: “A lot of people are probably unaware that Rex Ryan ripped him and he’s responding to Rex Ryan. So people see this clip and they say, ‘what is this guy doing here?’ without realizing the actual context to it.” pic.twitter.com/iyogDrdj1T
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 2, 2025
As Schefter referenced, Ryan ripped Sanders on Monday’s episode of Get Up during a discussion regarding the rookie’s recent comment that he’s capable of providing better quarterback play than some of the league’s 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’s mother, who referred to the ESPN analyst as “cancerous.”
But while Schefter’s reporting might explain why Shedeur Sanders didn’t give a verbal answer on Wednesday, it doesn’t 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 cliché quarterback-speak answers, as opposed to a reaction that generated additional headlines.
EvenAdam Schefter admitted that the additional context his reporting provided didn’t stop the Cleveland Browns third-string quarterback from being the lead story on ESPN’s 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’t invite the attention with his behavior.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.