The air has been cleared in Cleveland.
During an in-game interview last week, rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel took what was a perceived shot at fellow first-year Browns QB Shedeur Sanders.
“You know, there’s entertainers and there’s competitors, and I totally understand that,” Gabriel told the CBS broadcast. “But my job is to compete. And that’s what I’m focused on doing.”
While the Oregon product later said the “entertainers” portion of the comment was about the media, Gabriel still addressed it with Sanders.
“Honestly, I don’t even think about nothing. I don’t think about anything,” Sanders told reporters Thursday. “If it’s not words or anything at this point, it can’t do anything to me. I know that God put the ability and the power within me to not even think about nobody else’s comments, not care. It is what it is. I spoke with him. He told me on the plane. He came up, he was like, ‘Nah bro, that wasn’t at you.’ … I’m not tripping, regardless of whatever it was. Nobody’s words or anything affects me.”
The Cleveland rookies are still getting used to the NFL spotlight — and scrutiny — after decorated college careers.
Gabriel was the Browns’ third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and the team’s selection of Sanders — at one time believed to potentially go No. 1 overall — in the fifth round surprised many due to his slide and after the team had already gone with Gabriel earlier.
They emerged from their first training camp with their roles set after a four-man QB competition ended with veteran Joe Flacco getting the starting job, followed by Gabriel and Sanders on the depth chart.
Kenny Pickett will throw a wrench into things further when he recovers from a hamstring injury, but for now, it seems, everything is sorted out and Sanders, for one, is glad to be concentrating on football with both expected to see action in Saturday’s preseasons finale agains the Rams.
“Do I feel like he did? I don’t know,” the former Colorado star said of Gabriel’s apology. “And that’s not on me to sit here and be like, ‘Oh, he did; he didn’t.’ That’s not going to change my life in any way.”