Shedeur Sanders’ grin may have looked harmless in the moment, but it apparently landed right in the New Orleans Saints’ lap as fuel for Sunday.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Saints head coach Kellen Moore brought a viral clip of Sanders into a team meeting, turning the Browns quarterback’s smile into a little extra edge for New Orleans as it gets ready for Week 9 at the Caesars Superdome.
In the video, Sanders was asked if he had studied the Saints’ defense. Instead of laying out a standard answer, he flashed a smile and offered this:
“Yeah I seen a lot, when I smile just know that means something,” Sanders said. “I’m maturing, you know what I’m saying, I’m maturing, I could have gave that a decent answer but now I’m just gonna smile when it’s some questions.”
Maybe it was just Sanders having a little fun with the media. Either way, the clip made its way around the Saints’ building, where veterans like Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson now have a chance to answer on the field.
New Orleans comes into Week 9 at 2-5 and badly needs a spark. The season has been a rough mix of inconsistent offense, defensive issues and an 0-3 home record. Injuries, including the loss of running back Travis Etienne Jr., have only made Moore’s first year more difficult.
The Saints are coming out of their Week 8 bye with coaching and personnel changes already in the mix, and this matchup with Cleveland gives them a shot to start over. Sanders may not have meant to light a fire under them, but he seems to have done it anyway. Sunday will tell whether New Orleans can turn that into something on the field.
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Shedeur Sanders remains the Browns designated starter for the matchup in New Orleans, keeping the focus on the rookie as the Saints game approaches. Watsons status still leaves the door open for another shift soon after, with the expectation that he could be back in line to start in Week 10. [Read more 🡒]
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Miller, a third-round pick in the 2023 draft, never quite found his footing in New Orleans because of injuries and inconsistency, and the Saints have now added another layer to the competition by claiming Audric Estime off waivers. The roster churn leaves the backfield in flux as the team tries to sort out who fits best in the weeks ahead, and it also raises the possibility that more moves are coming as New Orleans continues to rework the offense. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Defense Found Bulletin Board Material At The Perfect Time
A quiet pregame exchange has given the Saints defense a little extra edge at just the right moment. Shedeur Sanders was non-committal when asked about New Orleans defense, and Carl Granderson said the remark landed in a way that can help sharpen a group looking for any edge it can get. For a defense that has been searching for cleaner stretches of play, even a small slight can become useful fuel.
The timing matters because the Saints are coming off a rough outing against Pittsburgh, where the defense did not do enough to consistently get off the field. Granderson pointed to Sanders comments and other chirping around the team as part of the motivation, and New Orleans will be hoping that added edge shows up on the field rather than just in the buildup. [Read more 🡒]