The Cleveland Browns’ four-man quarterback battle might feel like an impossible maze from the outside. But Shedeur Sanders is treating it like just another game. Despite mostly working with the third-team offense, he’s not letting that dim his fire. And quietly, he’s making folks inside the locker room take notice. But Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski isn’t rushing to crown anyone just yet.

On his recent appearance on 92.3 The Fan, Stefanski gave a glimpse into where Sanders currently stands. “Yeah, I’d put Shedeur right in the boat of all these rookies,” Stefanski said. “I’m proud of these guys. They are fighting like crazy. We’re throwing a ton at them.” Then came the kicker: “They’ve spent a lot of time in that meeting room where you start to get into the minutiae of this position, and I think Shedeur and Dillon are really working hard.” Translation? Sanders is holding his own, but he’s still fighting for airtime behind fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.

Yes, Kenny Pickett’s hamstring issue has opened doors. But it’s Gabriel who’s been sliding into those second-team and occasional first-team reps. Joe Flacco? He’s the Browns’ QB1 until further notice. But just when things looked a bit one-sided, Sanders fired back—with words that sounded more like a mission statement than a soundbite. “I just like pressure. I like situations like that. That stuff doesn’t really phase me. That’s normal to me,” Sanders said during a training camp interview.

“You know, so life, of course, is going to bring you different problems and you’re going to be faced with different things. So there’s always going to be pressure on you. So I just get comfortable in those situations.” Confidence, not cockiness—and that might be exactly what Cleveland needs in a room full of unknowns.

After all, this is the same guy who threw for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns last year at Colorado. And he did it while getting hit more than any Power Five QB. The Buffaloes finished 9–4, but more than the numbers, it was Shedeur’s refusal to fold that stood out. The wrist flicks, the scowls, the clutch throws late in games—those moments came from a QB wired to win. And yet, he still wants more.

“When I get the ball in my hands. Yeah, that’s kind of, you just got to know everything that y’all good at as a team and that y’all not good at,” Sanders explained. “So my main thing throughout my college career is trying to find better ways to get the ball in my hands quickly, speed up my process with decision-making, and everything.” Now, the Browns are hoping he brings that same urgency, same growth mindset to The Land.

Shedeur Sanders quietly heats up Browns’ QB battle amid camp chaos

The Browns are juggling four signal-callers, each with something to prove. Joe Flacco brings the vet presence, Kenny Pickett showed early flashes before a hamstring snag, and then there are the rookies—Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. And guess what? While Gabriel’s 33-of-50 with 2 TDs has caught some buzz, Sanders is lurking right behind at 29-of-40 with 5 touchdowns and no picks. Quietly efficient. Flacco? Sitting at 23-of-43. And Pickett, before his injury, looked sharp with 23-of-34 and 3 scores with 1 INT, in the camp.

So naturally, the Browns’ camp is turning into a pressure cooker. As one coach summed up, “Gabriel and Sanders are nipping at the veterans, but the focus is shifting to game readiness as camp barrels toward preseason action.” And it’s not just QBs under the microscope. Diontae Johnson, who bounced across four teams in one year, has landed in Cleveland on a vet minimum deal and is now somehow in the mix behind Amari Cooper. “That was really the only team that hit me up,” Johnson admitted, adding he’s fired up “to put last year behind me and come back strong in 2025.”

Meanwhile, things have gotten real on the practice field. Coaches dialed up the intensity with live tackling—something Jerome Ford and Jack Conklin fully embraced. Energy shot up as soon as the pads came on.

Despite that, chaos lingers. Pickett’s tweak “will be re-evaluated later this week,” giving Flacco, Gabriel, and Sanders more reps. And the defense took a brutal hit as top corner Martin Emerson Jr. tore his Achilles. “Naturally, it’s disappointing,” said Stefanski. “However, he will recover. I have confidence in his resilience.”

Now, all eyes are on how The Dawg Pound balances hype with hard decisions. Until then, Stefanski has a cryptic answer to the QB battle. “I’m not going to get in specifics on the players and where they’re getting reps, those type of things….All those guys are” working hard. So, let’s see who wins the crown this year.