Adam Schefter clarifies how Shedeur Sanders locker room behavior was a troll of Rex Ryan

Shedeur Sanders is in the news for the wrong reasons again with his viral response to the Browns’ change at quarterback this week. But, while still ill-conceived, ESPN’s Adam Schefter says this is less about his team and more about making a point to all of them in the media, specifically Rex Ryan.

On ‘Get Up’ on Thursday, Schefter recalled what Ryan said about Sanders on Monday’s episode, which was before Cleveland would name Dillon Gabriel as their new starter on Tuesday. He noted that Sanders, even in not the best instance to do so, is not “running his mouth” anymore as a response to Ryan.

“Well, essentially, the Browns made a quarterback change yesterday. They went with Dillon Gabriel as their starter, Joe Flacco second-string, and Shedeur Sanders remains third-string. So, when they asked Shedeur to speak about his reaction to the Browns’ quarterback moves, he spoke in mime,” Schefter explained. “Now, what he was doing was responding to Rex Ryan, who on this show on Monday, essentially criticized Shedeur Sanders for a number of things, but basically said keep your mouth shut. That was Rex Ryan’s message on Monday to Shedeur Sanders. Shedeur Sanders decided to take the time yesterday, on the day the Browns made a quarterback change, to literally keep his mouth shut and to mime.

“Now, there’s a time and a place for this. That probably wasn’t the time, not on the day where the Browns make a quarterback change, so his answer comes off in that way, with him trying to send a message to Rex Ryan. It goes viral and obviously creates a firestorm, and people have their own reactions to how he handled this particular situation.”

In response, Dan Orlovsky thought it was just a bad decision, especially considering his circumstances within the franchise and the league, for that matter, by Sanders. He thought, regardless of who he was directing that at, it didn’t make any better of a case for him to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.

“I actually don’t think there is a time and place to act like that as a quarterback. I think, one, everything that you do when you’re a quarterback – I don’t care if you’re first, second, or third – is a job interview. In that league? Every single thing you do,” Orlovsky said. “My question to Shedeur would be, are you helping yourself in your own building? Did that 30 or 40 seconds help you in your own building when it comes to what they think you can be in the future? And then, did you help yourself outside of your own building?

“There’s 64 jobs, essentially, at that spot in the NFL. Did that 30 or 40 seconds help you at all when it comes to your future there or your future elsewhere? And, when you’re a later-round draft pick, every single thing you do has to be from the lens of how do I make myself more appealing to the people in this building that say give that guy a chance, or more appealing to do you think an owner or a general manager or a president or somebody making decisions is watching that going I want that guy leading my franchise. Did you help yourself?