Shedeur Sanders speaks with the weight of a quarterback already grown

Brian Schaible

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Shedeur Sanders speaks with the weight of a quarterback already grown image

In defeat, Shedeur Sanders focused on people first, carrying accountability, empathy, and a locker room still learning together.

The questions moved through the usual postgame ground. Situations. Adjustments. Missed chances. And then the conversation turned.

When asked about Quinshon Judkins, Sanders slowed down. The answer came deliberately, and it carried more than just football.

“It really hurt that Quinshon went down,” Sanders said. “Me and Quinshon was in the room talking yesterday till like 11, 11:30, just about life, just about everything.”

That context mattered. Judkins was not just a teammate on a route. He was part of a rookie class still forming its identity, part of a bond Sanders spoke about openly.

“Because of the type of person he is, and I know he been through a lot,” Sanders said, explaining why the moment stayed with him.

He didn’t distance himself from the play either. Sanders walked through it honestly. The coverage took away the slant. The window closed. The throw became the only option available in real time.

“I can’t throw this slant,” he said. “They’re covering it. He’s heavy inside. So yeah, that was my only option.”

When Judkins went down, Sanders didn’t shift blame. He took the weight of it personally.

“I feel bad because I threw it,” he said. “Truthfully, yeah, it hurts.”

That same accountability carried into his breakdown of the offense’s early rhythm with tight end Harold Fannin Jr. Sanders acknowledged how effective Fannin was early, and how Buffalo responded.

MORE: Shedeur Sanders makes rookie history and insists every moment came from God

“A lot of teams try to attack us in different ways,” Sanders said. “Whether that’s pressures, whether that’s doubling somebody, whether that’s something.”

He pointed to a key fourth-and-two as an example of how quickly the picture can change.

“You look at their front side safety,” Sanders said. “You gotta see where he buzzed down and everything happened so quick.”

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Those moments, he explained, come down to shared understanding and repetition. Knowing when a route needs time to develop. Knowing when it must speed up.

“That’s about seeing in the same lens,” Sanders said. “That’s about the time on task.”

There was no frustration in the explanation. Taken together, Sanders’ answers revealed a quarterback already comfortable carrying responsibility. He spoke about teammates before numbers. About trust before blame. About growth before excuses.

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Staff Writer