Shedeur Sanders was among the best quarterback prospects before the 2025 NFL draft. He was widely expected to be selected within Day 1. However, in the weeks leading up to the draft, NFL executives cited concerns about his professionalism during interviews. Meanwhile, some have suggested that this shift in perception may have been influenced by biases related to his high-profile family name, with his father being Deion Sanders.Sanders fell to the fifth round, where he was selected by the Cleveland Browns. He made his first NFL start in the preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, partly due to the absence of Browns’ other quarterbacks. In the 30-10 win, he completed 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.Sanders sustained an oblique injury in practice prior to the team’s next preseason game, limiting his opportunities to compete for a higher spot on the depth chart. At that point, he was listed as the fourth quarterback behind Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.Following preseason evaluations, the Browns announced on Monday that Flacco would be the starting quarterback, a decision that surprised some given Sanders’ promising debut.Media personality Joe Budden voiced concerns that the Browns might be undermining Shedeur Sanders’ career, suggesting that the organization has not fully supported him.“What occurred in the draft and what we watched, the spectacle made of him. If you're of the belief that we're making an example out of this young black kid from this prominent football family, which I am, then that draft slide is a thing."There's nobody in the organization that has fought for this kid, other than the GM, so I think the bricks have been laid for him to fail whenever he hit. It didn't happen. This kid with every odd stacked against him since before the draft was ready to play."Budden further criticized the Browns’ longstanding struggles to identify a successful quarterback and sees Shedeur Sanders’ situation as a chance for the franchise to rethink their decisions and support the QB.“Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that you didn't want,” he added.Shedeur Sanders on Dillon Gabriel’s “entertainer” quoteShedeur Sanders addressed comments made by Dillon Gabriel during last Saturday’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Gabriel had distinguished between “entertainers” and “competitors” in his remarks, which some interpreted as a subtle jab at Sanders.Sanders said on Tuesday that Gabriel personally clarified the situation during their flight back to Cleveland, assuring him that the “entertainers” mentioned were actually directed at media members, not Sanders.“Honestly, I don’t even think about anything,” Sanders said. “Words or anything, you know at this point, can’t do anything to me. I know that God put the ability and power within me to not even think about nobody else’s comments and not care. It is what it is."I spoke with him. He told me on the plane. He came up to me and was like, ‘Nah, bro, that wasn’t at you. I see how they trying to spin it.’ I’m not gonna lie, I’m not tripping, regardless of whatever it was. Nobody’s words or anything affects me.”Shedeur Sanders missed the road game against the Eagles but is expected to return for the team’s preseason finale on Saturday.