The Cleveland Browns are turning the keys over to a rookie quarterback who won his conference’s Offensive Player of the Year award and ranked top 10 in Heisman Trophy voting in 2024: Dillon Gabriel, not Shedeur Sanders, although both 2025 draftees fit that criteria.

Joe Flacco was benched after Cleveland’s 1-3 start, but the 40-year-old former Super Bowl MVP will remain the team’s backup for Sunday’s game in London against the Minnesota Vikings.

Sanders, meanwhile, is still the Browns’ third-string quarterback.

When he was asked about it Wednesday in the locker room, Sanders mouthed his answers, taking an unorthodox approach to handling media.

A clip of the former Colorado star silently expressing himself is making the rounds on social media. It begins with him being asked about his role as QB3 on the Browns’ roster.

After Sanders mouthed a brief answer with his signature smile and then shrugged, the reporter followed up, asking if Sanders could express what he was feeling vocally.

Sanders mouthed another answer.

Another reporter asked, “What do you think you have to show to coaches just for them to have that belief in you that you can now be ready?”

Before the reporter even finished that question, Sanders started mouthing his next answer, which he finished with a smile again.

Then a reporter asked, “What can you say?”

That didn’t get Sanders to speak out loud, either.

Even a question about Flacco and how the veteran has helped both Sanders and Gabriel develop to this point of their young careers didn’t seem to change Sanders’ tune.

Sanders mouthed another answer.

Shedeur Sanders (12) remains the No. 3 QB for the Browns even as the team is turning to a new starter in rookie Dillon Gabriel. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
 (Diamond Images via Getty Images)

Sanders didn’t make the motivation behind his silent act Wednesday clear.

But ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested on X Wednesday evening that Sanders was responding to ESPN analyst, and former NFL head coach, Rex Ryan criticizing him on “Get Up” earlier this week.

“We’re all waiting to see Shedeur Sanders be the guy or Gabriel whatever,” Ryan said on Monday. “Something’s missing. Something’s missing with this kid. This kid talks, and he runs his mouth like he’s a … ‘I can be a starting quarterback’ with his arms crossed like this.”

“Get your ass in the front row and study and do all that. If I know, the whole league knows. Quit being an embarrassment that way. You got the talent to be the quarterback. You should be. You should be embarrassed that you’re not the quarterback now.”

Gabriel backed up Flacco the first four weeks of the season. He also was taken by the Browns out of Oregon in the third round, whereas Sanders was scooped up by Cleveland in the fifth round following his unexpected draft slide this past April.

Gabriel replaced Flacco in garbage time of Week 2 and Week 4 blowout defeats, the first of which he finished with his first career touchdown pass against the Baltimore Ravens. The second perhaps signaled a changing of the guard after the Browns crashed back down to earth from their Week 3 upset of the Green Bay Packers with a humbling 34-10 road setback to the Detroit Lions.

Sanders has yet to take a regular-season snap, although he said last week, as Ryan alluded to, that he could perform better than some of the starters in the league right now.

“If you see the quarterback play in the league right now, I know I’m capable of doing better than that,” Sanders said on Sept. 25, via ESPN Cleveland.

Sanders added at the time, via ESPN Cleveland: “I don’t think playing [or] not playing is in my hands. Based on the situation … I’ll be out there and I’ll be ready to play. I’m ready to play right now.”

As part of a four-quarterback competition this summer — the Browns traded Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders in late August — Sanders notably began the preseason with an impressive debut. But an oblique injury sidelined him for the second exhibition, and he struggled in the preseason finale, during which Gabriel excelled.

Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders confirmed last week during an appearance on the “New Heights” podcast that his son turned down the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens during the draft.

Landing with the Browns appeared to give Shedeur a quicker path to starting, considering the Eagles and Ravens have franchise quarterbacks. That said, Ravens two-time MVP Lamar Jackson is currently nursing a hamstring injury, and his status is in doubt for Week 5.

Sanders is still waiting for his first on-field opportunity in Cleveland this season. His stay with the Browns has come with plenty of attention, though. He dealt with it Wednesday without words.