When Cleveland Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot said veteran quarterback Deshaun Watson had “the inside track” to win the starting job over second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders, it quickly became a family matter. Shedeur’s older brother, Shilo Sanders, went on Instagram with five words: “Go make a sandwich, Mary.” The comment had been deleted shortly after it gained traction, but Shilo and Sheduer’s mother, Pilar Sanders, had already taken notice.

Pilar Sanders, thinking along those same lines, didn’t stay quiet either. She took to Instagram with her own statement.

“I stand with my sons!” Pilar wrote. “Positive energy is priceless — too many of us know how to talk it – walk it – report it hey where’s @josinaanderson she knows football and how to do it right! 👋🏽👋🏽👋🏽”

And while Shilo deleted the comment, he still had more to say. He went on a Twitch live stream and directed a sharper message at Cabot.

“And this is to Mary Kay: If you’re gonna be a reporter, be a reporter and report facts,” Shilo fired off. “Whenever you have your opinion, and your opinion is always something hateful to Sheduer, then it makes it seem like it’s something weird, like it’s an agenda that you have going on. There’s plenty of women that take reporting football serious and actually do homework and study the game and get the statistics right and get the news right, but with you it’s so much emotion. I don’t want to make women look bad when it comes to reporting, because you don’t have the will to actually want to report real things that are going on.”

Pilar’s tag, however, made the bigger point here. Josina Anderson is an EMMY award-winning journalist with over 25 years of experience covering the NFL. She became the first female senior NFL Insider in ESPN’s history, then did it again at CBS Sports, making her the only person to hold that title at both networks. By invoking her name, Pilar was making a specific argument: that the issue wasn’t a woman covering football, it was the Mary Kay Cabot covering Shedeur.

As per reports, Watson came out with the Starters on Day 2 of the voluntary minicamp and took most of the reps. It was a shift from Day 1, where Shedeur had received more 11-on-11 work. Watson’s ability to diagnose plays pre-snap and make quick decisions impressed the coaching staff enough that the team changed course mid-session, dialing up his snaps despite originally planning to give Sanders more first-team reps.

“I think they should declare him QB1 ASAP and let the first-team offense start to cook. There’s no time to waste,” Cabot had noted in her report. “Sanders has about six weeks to close the gap and try to overtake the former three-time Pro Bowler. But he’s got plenty of ground to make up, and will have to dazzle the coaching staff to land atop the depth chart heading into training camp.”

But this wasn’t the first time Cabot found herself pulling Shedeur back into a story. When she asked newly drafted quarterback Taylen Green about Shedeur during a media session, she was criticized for still centering the conversation on Sanders, and not asking about Watson or Dillon Gabriel, the other second-year quarterback on the roster.

Meanwhile, Shilo faced a broader backlash for the sandwich comment, and he addressed it on The Coach JB Show, reframing himself as a fellow media figure.

“We’re in the same lane,” Shilo said on the show. “I can say what I want… I’m a media outlet. When I got to the Pro Bowl, when I go to Shedeur’s games, I get media credentials. That’s my lane right now… So whatever I see, whatever I want to respond to, that’s just what I want to respond to, just like you guys. But how’s it a problem if your last name’s Sanders and you do that?”

The Sanders name has always been in the spotlight because of Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders, Shilo and Shedeur’s father, and Colorado’s head coach. The Sanders name had become an even bigger lightning rod since Shedeur’s draft slide last offseason, and Shilo was there to see it all firsthand.  Shilo and Pilar have always been vocal in support of Shedeur, and their latest comments only solidify this stance. But Cabot, for her part, wasn’t interested in escalating. She went on 92.3 The Fan, and let her record speak.

Mary Kay Cabot’s response to Shilo Sanders

Mary Kay Cabot has covered the Browns since 1988. She is the latest recipient of the Pro Football Writers of America’s Bill Nunn Memorial Award, given for long and distinguished contribution to pro football coverage. She is also a Pro Football Hall of Fame Committee Member and the first woman in Cleveland to cover a prominent sports franchise. So when Shilo Sanders questioned her authority as a reporter, Cabot chose to stand behind her credentials.

“I really do believe that I have been an inspiration for lots of women and young girls to know that you can go out there and do a good job in a man’s world and take on all of that that comes with that,” Cabot said on 92.3 The Fan. “And I know there are so many women who have joined the football world, especially because of some of the things I’ve been able to do over the years, and I’m happy about that… I’ve been able to help set the tone and open some doors in that way, and I know that will continue.”

Cabot’s report on Watson wasn’t a contrarian take either. Shedeur Sanders went 3-4 in seven starts last season, with seven touchdowns and ten interceptions. Watson, despite missing all of 2025 with an Achilles injury, is a 3x Pro Bowler working under a new coaching staff. The Sanders family can dispute Cabot’s conclusion, but the current minicamp observations that led to it are also on record.

The Browns’ quarterback competition still has months to play out. Shedeur Sanders gets another shot at the OTAs and mandatory minicamps. Whether Cabot’s report holds up or doesn’t, the Sanders family has made it clear that they will be watching, and they won’t be quiet about it.