Shedeur Sanders sparked controversy after ex-NFL coach Rex Ryan slammed him on live TV, calling him “an embarrassment.” Though Sanders hadn’t played a snap for the Browns, his confidence, and famous last name, drew league-wide backlash. But his mother wasn’t having it. Pilar Sanders, fired back with a fiery Instagram post that made headlines.

Pilar took to Instagram to write what you could call an open letter. “To young Athletes and Football fans… This is what imp-ent, cancerous, envious energy looks like. This type of Evile [sic] goes waaay back – you can cut it with a kn-fe – embedded in bl–d and bones seeping through all of the rotting worm holes [sic] it has,” she said. She definitely read William Blake before crafting this.

“What and who does he really represent? Its’ family and peers should be embarrassed to know and let this on their platforms. There’s no room for this type in sports. Please [be quiet emoji]… Tsk tsk tsk… Enuff!” Pilar added.

Shedeur might be the only third-string QB in the league to have that level of support. Most analysts believe he is the best QB in Cleveland, the fans love him (mostly).

Whether it’s Coach Prime spamming tweets about his son’s greatness or Pilar putting out statements to defend him against critics, Sanders doesn’t have to go through anything alone.

And that might not seem like much, but it matters for a young QB still trying to find a way to climb the depth chart. The support allows him to keep his head down and focus on getting better, ignoring all that outside voice. But was Rex Ryan’s criticism of Sanders justified?

Was Rex Ryan right to call out Shedeur Sanders?

Rex Ryan let it fly, maybe the longest takedown of a third-string QB we’ve ever heard. “This kid talks, and he runs his mouth. Like he said, ‘I can be a starting quarterback’ with his arms crossed like this. Get your a** in the front row and study and do all that. If I know, the whole league knows. Quit being an embarrassment that way. You’ve got the talent to be the quarterback; you should be. You should be embarrassed that you’re not the quarterback now,” he said. Talking like this about a young QB won’t really do him much good.

If you’re wondering what prompted these words, Shedeur Sanders dropped an interesting take when he was asked if he is ready to suit up last week. He claimed that he’s “locked in” and taking things day-to-day despite being that low on the depth chart. Then came the controversy.

“You see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” he said. Was he aiming at Joe Flacco? Or just venting about the league’s quarterback play in general?

Hard to say. But here’s the thing: he wasn’t exactly off-base. Offenses around the NFL have been stuck in neutral, barely cracking 300 yards a game when Shedeur Sanders made his point. And while Sanders never flat-out declared, “I should be QB1,” Ryan’s argument would make you think so.

All the noise around Sanders makes it easy to forget that he has barely had a chance to prove himself.

The 23-year-old played in the 2025 preseason for the Browns and had a strong debut. In the first game against the Panthers, he threw two touchdowns, completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards, and helped the team win 30-10. He missed the second game against the Eagles because of an oblique injury.

In the third game against the Rams, he struggled, completing just 3 of 6 passes for 14 yards and getting sacked five times. Overall, he finished the preseason with 17 completions on 29 attempts, 152 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, no interceptions, 7 sacks, and 19 rushing yards.

And it’s interesting to see that Sanders, who hasn’t played a single snap in the league, is somehow drawing more hate than Joe Flacco, who’s been horrid this season. In the loss to the Lions, he racked up 84 yards with zero TDs and two picks.