In a recent podcast appearance, Colorado coach Deion Sanders covered a wide variety of topics. Including the recent incident involving his son, Shilo, and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
“We don’t talk about nobody,” Deion Sanders said on The Barbershop with Garrett Bush. “We don’t do nothing to nobody. I know Shilo had a little altercation that he spoke up for his brother. You’ve got to understand, man, that’s his brother. And God bless Mary Kay’s soul, that’s his brother. I mean, she said something, he said something, like media is different today. I know a lot of people don’t respect the old school. I do, because I grew up in that era that we didn’t have a say so. . . . But Shilo spoke up for his brother, and he was ridiculed for that.”
In fairness to the facts, Shilo was ridiculed not because he spoke up but for what he said.
After Cabot expressed her opinion that the Browns should name Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback “ASAP,” Shilo said, “Go make a sandwich Mary.”
Shilo separately suggested that Cabot should report facts and not express opinions.
“If it’s reported, it’s reported,” Shilo said. “You have facts, you have news. But when it comes to your opinion, you’ve been saying crazy things for the past — since he’s been there. So it’s like, just chill with that. Because it don’t make no sense, and it makes you look crazy like you don’t know what you’re talking about. And for all the women that actually take the time to go do their research and actually be real reporters and real journalists, then that’s gonna make them look bad, because you already know as a woman in this field of reporting football and sports, like, it’s hard. So don’t make it hard on everybody, just because you don’t feel like it.”
So, yes, Shilo has every right to defend Shedeur. But if Shilo does it in a way that merits scrutiny, he’s going to experience it.
Deion, in turn, has every right to defend Shilo. And, yes, it’s hard for any father to be objective about his children. That doesn’t mean Deion shouldn’t try to understand why, to use his term, Shilo “was ridiculed.” Shilo said something for which he deserved to be fairly criticized.
Hopefully, Deion made that point to Shilo privately. No father’s blind spot for his children should be so large that the father misses a clear opportunity to explain that there’s a line between defending a family member and attacking someone based on an irrelevant characteristic, such as gender.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders says he’d like to talk to new Browns head coach Todd Monken about quarterback Shedeur Sanders — not because Deion is Shedeur’s dad, but because Deion was Shedeur’s college coach.
Deion Sanders said on Garrett Bush’s podcast that the date of their meeting hasn’t been set, but he plans to travel to Cleveland, sit down with Monken and talk to him about how to get the most out of Shedeur as a player. Deion Sanders said it’s no different than he feels about other players he’s coached, such as Jaguars cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, whom he thinks he can provide some insight on.
“I was supposed to go, actually next week but I’ve got to shoot a commercial, to Cleveland to meet [Monken],” Sanders said. “Because I want to meet him. Because I think it’s vital that as a coach, not the dad, I can tell him a few things about [Shedeur], how to get him going. That wasn’t asked of me a year ago. I don’t understand it. Even a guy like Travis Hunter being drafted to Jacksonville and I’ve had him for the last three [seasons], don’t you think you would want to talk to me to ask me what gets him going and what backs him off? You would want to know that. So, I anticipate, and I can’t wait to have that conversation with Coach Monken.”
Sanders said he’s been bothered by negative talk about Shedeur coming out of NFL circles since before last year’s draft. But Sanders believes Monken is the kind of coach who will deal honestly and forthrightly with Shedeur.
“I love it, man, because he’s a straight shooter,” Deion said of Monken. “All these little side conversations that was had before him, he ain’t with that.”
We don’t know if Fernando Mendoza will be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season, but we do know who the Raiders will be playing in the first overall pick’s potential debut.
The NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday night shows that the Raiders will host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 13. The game will be on Fox.
Mendoza will have to get the nod over Kirk Cousins in order to start for the Raiders. Offseason addition Malik Willis is expected to make his first appearance for the Dolphins. Both teams will definitely have head coaches making their offseason debut as Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak in February and Miami hired Jeff Hafley in January.
Sunday will also feature a pair of divisional games in the late afternoon window. The Packers will visit the Vikings while the Commanders will be in Philadelphia to renew their acquaintance with the Eagles. The NFC North matchup will be on CBS while the NFC East clash will be broadcast by Fox.
The other late game on Sunday afternoon will see the Cardinals visiting the Chargers on CBS. Arizona could have Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback for that contest.
The 1 p.m. ET games will send the Bills to Houston for a date with the Texans while the Browns go on the road against the Jaguars. The Colts will host the Ravens, the Saints will visit the Lions, the Buccaneers will travel to Cincinnati for Dexter Lawrence’s first game as a Bengal, and the Steelers will kick off the Mike McCarthy era — with or without Aaron Rodgers — at home against the Falcons.
Previous reports revealed that the Jets will be in Tennessee and that the Bears will head to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Jets-Titans game will be on CBS along with the Bills-Texans, Ravens-Colts and Browns-Jaguars games. All the other 1 p.m. games will be on Fox.
The entire Week 1 slate will kick off on Wednesday, September 9 with a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch in Seattle on NBC. Thursday will bring a Netflix game between the 49ers and Rams in the NFL’s first game in Melbourne and Sunday night will find the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium to meet the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Those games were all announced ahead of Thursday’s full schedule reveal, which was also the case for the ESPN Monday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.
The Browns have signed second-round safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren to his four-year rookie deal, the team announced.
Cleveland has now signed nine of its 10 draft picks, with only first-round wide receiver KC Concepcion remaining unsigned.
The Browns drafted McNeil-Warren with the 58th overall pick out of Toledo.
He appeared in 53 career games with 14 starts at Toledo in his four collegiate seasons. McNeil-Warren played in all 13 games in 2025, recording 77 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, half a sack and two interceptions, while earning third-team AP All-America honors.
Browns first-round offensive tackle Spencer Fano, second-round wide receiver Denzel Boston, third-round tackle Austin Barber, fifth-round center Parker Brailsford, fifth-round linebacker Justin Jefferson, fifth-round tight end Joe Royer, sixth-round quarterback Taylen Green and seventh-round tight end Carsen Ryan previously signed.
Browns head coach Todd Monken spent the last three years overseeing the Ravens’ offense and part of that role involved the development of wide receiver Zay Flowers.
The process went pretty well. The 2023 first-round pick made two Pro Bowls while amassing 237 catches for 3,128 yards and 14 touchdowns during his three years playing for Monken.
Cleveland used one of its first-round picks on a wide receiver this year and Monken sees some connective tissue between what Flowers brought to his offense and what rookie KC Concepcion could be able to do.
“There are some traits that are similar to [Flowers],” Monken said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. “But I love when people spoke about KC, it reminded me of Zay in that, in terms of how he practiced, what he brings in every day. And if you’re looking for that comparison, that I can compare, I believe he’s going to bring that like Zay did.”
Flowers has had the benefit of playing with Lamar Jackson and the Browns don’t have that kind of certainty at quarterback, but a quick transition to NFL life will help whoever winds up slinging the ball for Monken this fall.
