Eagles Will Learn More About Browns Rookie QB At Practice This Week

PHILADELPHIA – Those around the league seemed to fall in love with Shedeur Sanders’ NFL debut in Week 1 of the preseason. His decisions, his accuracy, and his poise have drawn praise and significant amounts of conversation on national shows.

Not so much from the Eagles, though.

“I don’t know anything about him,” was defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s answer when asked about what he knows of Sanders, swatting away the question like one of those annoying summer gnats buzzing in his ear.

The Eagles will get to know Sanders up close this week, though. The lightning rod quarterback of the Cleveland Browns will be in South Philly this week, beginning Wednesday when the two teams will practice against each other for two days leading up to Saturday’s preseason game.

Sanders started Cleveland’s opener against the Carolina Panthers and did well enough, completing 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and two touchdown passes to end with a passer rating of 106.8. He also ran four times for 19 yards and was sacked twice.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski hasn’t committed to who will start on Saturday, but Sanders will get plenty of work in the joint practices, along with fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, former Eagles backup Kenny Pickett, and probably veteran Joe Flacco. In their unofficial depth chart release on Tuesday, Sanders was listed fourth behind Joe Flacco at No. 1, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel.

Cleveland Browns quarterback Kenny Pickett, left, chats with wide receiver Jamari Thrash during a practice May 28, 2025, in Berea. | Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Before leaving for Philadelphia, the Browns held practice on Tuesday, and Pickett threw three consecutive touchdown passes, one to David Njoku, Jerry Jeudy, and Kaden Davis, according to the Browns’ website.

The Eagles are familiar with Pickett, of course, while Cleveland is familiar with Eagles backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who was acquired in the deal that send Pickett to the Browns in the offseason.

“It’s going to be fun, obviously seeing a bunch of familiar faces,” said DTR, who is locked in a battle to be the Eagles’ emergency quarterback ahead of rookie Kyle McCord. “I know that scheme pretty well, getting to run the scout team for some years over there. I think it’ll be fun. It’ll be a good week.”

Thompson-Robinson said he didn’t know much about Sanders.

“I think we crossed paths a couple of times with football things and camps,” he said. “I don’t know him too much personally, but I heard a lot of great things about him.”

That was more than Eagles rookies, linebacker Smael Mondon and safety Drew Mukuba admitted to knowing about Sanders.

Mondon simply said, “Nah,” when asked if he knew Sanders.

Mukuba said: “I seen him at the Combine, that’s really about it. I don’t know him.”

Adoree Jackson, who is always ready with a good answer, said this about Sanders: “I just know that he’s a great player, and a great person, just from what I’ve seen. I don’t know too much about him, but I have seen that he’s been doing the same thing since pretty much high school, when Prime (Deion Sanders) had his 'Truth' team (a reference to a youth sports program and organization focused on mentoring young athletes through sports and education) to him at Jackson State, to him at Colorado and to him in the league now.

“It’s a testament, not just to himself, but those around him – his dad, his brothers – to keep him going, keep him in a straight line to be able to handle adversity and all the different things that may come his way. I’m excited to see what he does in his career in the league.”

The Eagles will get a close-up look of Sanders at Ground Zero of his career this week.

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