The media has been following Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders ever since he was with the Colorado Buffaloes. Many even considered that nepotism played a part in getting him a job in the NFL after the Browns drafted him in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Now, Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons bashed the media for troubling the young quarterback. 

“It’s the media for sure. It’s a caught-up, get-in-the-media world; Like, I feel like they’re trying to set him up for failure. And that’s the part I don’t like,” Parsons said on Bleacher Report’s The Edge podcast. “They want to create headlines, they act like they want to see him succeed. But if he fails, it’s almost like an unlimited spill. And I hate to say it’s the ‘Black Quarterback’ thing. 

“Like, they’re trying to set him up for failure and create these conspiracies and like, ‘Oh, maybe he didn’t earn it.’ Like, just let him go to work and earn a starting role. If they decide to keep him, because he did everything right, because Deshaun Watson might be too expensive in the offseason, he’s going to have his opportunity to flourish. Just let football play out.”

Last season, Sanders had mixed reactions to him starting seven games when Cleveland ran out of quarterback options. He completed 120-of-212 passes for 1,400 yards and scored seven touchdowns. Up until then, Sanders was ridiculed for falling to the fifth round in the draft, and there was also this idea of Sanders being on the bench forever. But he held down the fort at quarterback for Cleveland in those seven games, going 3-4.

Sanders had been able to turn some of the hate against him into hype by competing in the QB1 competition. It had been close between him and Deshaun Watson all along, and at times, looked better than the veteran. But the Browns chose Watson, relegating Sanders to backup duties once again. That same old narrative was rehashed.

He got to take his first snaps as a starter against the New Orleans Saints this season, as Watson was in concussion protocol. Sanders went 19 of 31 for 297 yards and two touchdowns, and the game ultimately came down to a failed two-point conversion in overtime. The Browns lost only by one point, finishing 23-22.

Once again, Sanders impressed and disappointed. Sanders was sacked five times, and he did not throw the ball away in time. But there was also that 39-yard touchdown pass to Harold Fannin Jr. in overtime, still keeping the Browns alive.

For now, he’s back on the sideline as Watson’s immediate backup. Head coach Todd Monken has brought Watson back in as the starter for Week 10, after he cleared the concussion protocol. 

That adds to constant murmurs about the possibility of Shedeur Sanders getting traded. Those rumors have followed him since the offseason. However, according to Parsons, he wants players like Sanders to truly have the chance to show their worth before teams act quickly and make a decision.

“They did the same thing with [J.J.] McCarthy,” he said. “Like, let’s not jump the gun [with Shedeur Sanders].

Like Sanders. McCarthy also dealt with a lot of ridicule for missing his rookie season and some of the 2025 campaign due to injuries. A former first-round pick, McCarthy was back to backup duties after the Vikings signed Kyler Murray this year and eventually named him QB1. McCarthy was then traded to the New York Giants, who desperately needed a QB with Jaxson Dart injured.

Since changing team colors, J.J. McCarthy has balled out in New York. He could have done the same for Minnesota had he been given some time.

Shedeur Sanders’ postgame interview, despite a loss, surprised Micah Parsons 

It’s highly unusual for a broadcast crew to conduct an on-field postgame interview with the losing team’s quarterback. But things were different for Sanders. And that surprised Parsons. 

“The fact that they had an interview for him after a loss is crazy,” Parsons said on his podcast. “I’ve never seen that in the NFL. Like, I saw that he had a hype video out. Like when he was going to be the starter.” 

“That he did. I didn’t think that was true either,” Quincy Avery supported Parsons’ opinion. “Like, I had to double-check that. It’s awkward and it’s, I don’t understand like what his infatuation is.” 

The comments came soon after Sanders narrowly avoided a trap during the press conference after losing the Week 9 game against New Orleans. 

During the postgame press conference, a reporter asked him if the he had earned the chance to start again. But Sanders knew that it was a trap. 

“I think that’s a setup question, honestly,” the second-year quarterback said in the postgame press conference. “I control what I control. But what I think, in the grand scheme of things, don’t really matter. I think being a great teammate, being a great whatever role I have on the team, I could do, because you got to look at the bigger picture. We’re out here connecting with each other, growing, learning in different areas. … You can’t really ever look at the situation as negative.”  

It was the second time the media tried to mess with the quarterback. A few days before the Week 9 game, Sanders claimed that he had seen a lot of New Orleans’ game tape, with a mischievous grin. To some, that might have come off as arrogant.

Even Saints head coach Kellen Moore referenced Sanders’ words in a pregame team meeting. But later on, during a conversation with CBS Sports’ AJ Ross, Sanders confessed that the media took things out of context. He confirmed that he never disrespected the Saints.

Between twisted pregame quotes and postgame setup questions, Shedeur Sanders’ Week 9 spot start proved Parsons’ point about the relentless media circus. But for now, he’s seemingly focused on the upcoming game against the Houston Texans.