Deion Sanders Reacts to Son Shedeur's Bizarre Mime Interview

Deion Sanders is keeping an eye on his son Shedeur during his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns, which means he saw his younger Sanders' pantomime locker room interview on Wednesday.

After the Browns announced that rookie Dillon Gabriel, the team's third-round draft pick, would start at quarterback this weekend over veteran Joe Flacco, Shedeur Sanders, Cleveland's third-string signal caller, conducted a media session where he did not speak, instead miming all his answers.

The bizarre scene elicited a number of different responses, including one from Deion himself, who commented on the matter on social media.

“Good 1 son. You did that," Deion wrote, including several crying laughing emojis. ESPN Cleveland captured a screenshot of Deion's reaction.

Coach Prime weighs in on Shedeur’s interview today ???????????? https://t.co/xKHVw3UIhQ pic.twitter.com/qdTkEy4RN7

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) October 1, 2025

While Sanders' mime routine may have seemed weird, there was a method to his madness, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Making sense of Sanders' miming

Schefter said that Sanders chose to mime, rather than speak, his responses, because of his ESPN colleague Rex Ryan's recent criticism of the former University of Colorado star.

Ryan had taken exception to Sanders saying he feels he is "capable of doing better" than a number of quarterbacks currently playing in the NFL.

“Something’s missing with this kid. This kid talks and he runs his mouth. Like he said, ‘I can be a starting quarterback’ with his arms crossed like this,” Ryan said earlier this week. “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’ve got the talent to be the quarterback — you should be. You should be embarrassed that you’re not the quarterback now.”

We'll see if Rex has anything to say about Shedeur's most recent media techniques.

Sanders still third-string

Even with Gabriel moving into the starting role, Sanders' status as Cleveland's No. 3 quarterback has not changed.

Flacco will be the team's backup when the Browns face the Minnesota Vikings in London Sunday. Sanders will be third-string, meaning he can only play in an emergency capacity.