Browns owner appears to distance himself from Shedeur Sanders in awkward interview

Former Colorado star Shedeur Sanders is battling for reps at Cleveland Browns Training Camp. With a recent injury to veteran Kenny Pickett, Sanders has seen increased reps with the Browns' second unit. While he's behind in the pecking order, he has had impressive moments that have fans clamoring for him to get more of an opportunity.

Despite that, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam gave an awkward interview at practice on Tuesday where he appeared to distance himself from the Sanders draft pick.

Cleveland drafted Sanders in the fifth round of April's NFL Draft in a move that many believed was prompted by Haslam himself, overruling General Manager Andrew Berry. The Browns had already taken a quarterback two rounds prior when they selected Oregon's Dillon Gabriel.

"If you would have told me...ya'll were gonna pick Shedeur I would say that's not happening," Haslam said. "Andrew Berry made the call to pick Shedeur."

Browns beat writer Mary Kay Cabot posted the awkward exchange on her X account:

There are two ways to read Jimmy Haslam's comments about Shedeur Sanders

Folks on social media have already taken off running with Haslam's comments, taking them to mean that he didn't want Sanders, doesn't believe in the former Colorado star, and wants the blame for the pick to be placed squarely on the shoulders of his General Manager. That's going to be the story here, though it's probably not the truth.

The more logical reasoning behind his words is that Haslam has seen the comments that he overruled Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski, and wanted to try and put an end to that speculation. That wasn't helped by the fact that Berry didn't exactly look thrilled when cameras panned to him as the Sanders selection was being announced.

Whether it's true or not, Haslam wants reporters and fans to believe that those kinds of decisions are made by the GM, not by him.

Regardless of which way you interpret Haslam's comments, one thing is certain that they didn't need to be said. It just opens up the possibility of his words being misunderstood, subjecting his rookie QB to further scrutiny. Sanders is already under enough of a microscope where he doesn't need people believing his owner is unhappy that he's on the team.

Haslam's comments will create another firestorm and create more controversy for a kid who is just trying to keep his head down and compete.