Saints motivated to face 'smiling' Shedeur Sanders after Browns QB offers bulletin board material

Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders caught himself before he explicitly gave the New Orleans Saints bulletin board material ahead of their Week 9 matchup, but it did not require much reading between the lines to decipher what he thinks of the Saints' defense.

Sanders will make his first start of the season on Sunday with Deshaun Watson in concussion protocol. As such, he conducted a media availability session ahead of the contest and made an eyebrow-raising comment about the Saints and a defense that ranks 28th in yards per game allowed and 29th in scoring.

"I've seen a lot," Sanders said with a grin when asked what he noticed on film. "When I smile, just know that means something. 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 going to smile whenever it's just, like, some questions, you know?"

Sanders may not have outright criticized the New Orleans defense, but by explaining his body language, he made it quite clear that he saw a unit he can pick apart when he conducted his film study. The second-year player would be far from the first quarterback to have his way against this squad, which allows 233.3 yards per game through the air, but the Saints might come out with additional motivation to stop him in the wake of those remarks.

Count edge rusher Carl Granderson among those who saw what Sanders had to say.

"We're gonna come in with a chip on our shoulder for sure," Granderson said. "They've been chirping a little bit. We see what the quarterback done said. We're finna come in hot and ready to play. We're going to pack the defense, and the offense is going to come with it. It's going to be a good game for sure. We're going to come out with the dub."

Dating back to his college career, Sanders has long been a lightning rod for attention off the field. The former fifth-round pick and son of Deion Sanders is never one to avoid speaking his mind.

For the first time this season, Sanders gets the opportunity on Sunday to back up his talk with his play on the field. He briefly entered last week's 27-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers when Watson took a big hit in the first quarter, but he attempted only two passes and has thrown just three times this year. The Week 9 start will mark a return to the starting lineup for the first time since last season when he spent seven weeks as the Browns' No. 1 quarterback.

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