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With the Cleveland Browns sending Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals to take over their quarterback duties, rookie Shedeur Sanders naturally slides up the Browns’ depth chart heading into Week 6.
Dillon Gabriel, who made his first NFL start in London in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, remains the starter. But since Flacco was his backup after being benched following four weeks, Sanders will now be behind him as they prepare to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road.
As the Browns made this surprising in-division trade, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders — the legendary father of Cleveland’s fifth-round pick — was asked about the trade during his weekly press conference ahead of his own game this week.
His response?
“I don’t care,” Sanders told reporters bluntly. “I don’t give a darn about the Browns at all. I care about the Colorado Buffaloes. I do love me some Shedeur Sanders, though, believe that. I care about him, and the rest of that mess I don’t. I’m a coach trying to win games just like they’re trying to win games. I could care less who they traded.”
Fair enough from “Coach Prime.”
BROWNS TRADE JOE FLACCO TO BENGALS AMID CINCINNATI’S QB STRUGGLES
The elder Sanders is staring at a 2-4 record through six games with his Buffaloes. They are coming off back-to-back losses against BYU and TCU, and Sanders is hoping to snap an 0-3 record in Big 12 play ahead of his matchup against No. 22 Iowa State in Boulder on Saturday.
Deion did predict that his son would play at some point in his rookie campaign, though he wouldn’t give a definitive timeline.
Sanders shared his thoughts on the “New Heights” podcast, telling hosts Jason and Travis Kelce he has “got a feeling when it’s going to go down.” He has been telling his son to “be patient and be ready,” as he has faith his time is coming.
In his first start, Gabriel was 19-of-33 (57.6% completion rate) for 190 yards with two touchdown passes in the 21-17 loss to the Vikings overseas. Minnesota ended up winning the game in the late stages, as Jordan Addison scored the game-winning touchdown with just seconds left on the fourth-quarter clock.
The Bengals were clearly desperate to get someone else in the building at quarterback after Jake Browning, who had taken over for the injured Joe Burrow, lost each of his first three starts. With Burrow likely out for the remainder of the regular season, the Bengals reportedly called on multiple fronts before landing on Flacco.
Flacco didn’t fare well through four weeks, as the Browns went 1-3. He completed 58.1% of his passes for 815 yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions. Head coach Kevin Stefanski made the change, though he kept Flacco as the team’s backup instead of moving Shedeur up the depth chart, too.
While it’s unknown if Flacco will start immediately for Cincinnati, the move figures to have him in place over Browning after three straight losses.
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