Who would have thought that Shedeur Sanders taking over the field against the Saints would backfire on him? The Browns quarterback is now facing backlash over his postgame interview and the hype surrounding him.

“The fact that they had an interview for him after a loss is crazy,” Micah Parsons said on The Edge with Micah Parsons. “I’ve never seen that in the NFL. Like I saw that he had a hype video out. Like when he was going to be the starter.”

Quincy Avery also supported Parsons’ reaction, saying, “That he did. I didn’t think that was true either. Like I had to double-check that. It’s awkward and it’s, I don’t understand like what his infatuation is.”

These comments came after Shedeur Sanders gave interviews following the Browns’ loss to the Saints. During the postgame press conference, he was also asked whether he had done enough to earn the starting job.

“I think that’s a setup question, honestly,” Shedeur Sanders said in the postgame press conference. “I control what I control. But what I think, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t really matter. I think being a great teammate, being a great whatever role I have on the team, I could do, because you got to look at the bigger picture. We’re out here connecting with each other, growing, learning in different areas. … You can’t really ever look at the situation as negative.”

Sanders got the opportunity to start after Deshaun Watson took a helmet-to-helmet hit during the first quarter of the Browns’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Watson was checked for a possible concussion but was cleared to return and continued playing. However, he later developed concussion symptoms and entered the NFL’s concussion protocol, which kept him out of the game against the Saints.

Sanders also created some hype around his first start of the season. On November 7, he shared a clip on Instagram featuring highlights from his NFL career, along with the caption, “Thank you GOD $².” The timing of the post, just a day before his game against the Saints, drew attention and gave the media another reason to discuss him.

However, it is not as if Sanders failed to perform against the Saints. Despite the loss, he completed 19 of 31 pass attempts for 297 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception. He averaged 9.6 yards per attempt, recorded a passer rating of 114.6 and a QBR of 40.2, but was sacked five times for a loss of 37 yards.

His performance also sparked a debate about who should be Cleveland’s starting quarterback the following week. CBS Sports analyst Bill Cowher was among the media personalities who supported Sanders and wanted him to keep the job.

“Shedeur Sanders should be the starter for this football team. He’s going to be the future, and I think what he showed today – his resilience – he continued to come back, he made great decisions, he extended plays,” Cowher said during CBS Sports’ postgame show. “I love the way he played, and I would move forward with Shedeur Sanders.”

But despite all the hype, things might not go Sanders’ way. The Cleveland Browns are planning to bring Deshaun Watson back as their starting quarterback for their Week 10 game against the Houston Texans. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported this on Monday, November 9, citing a source.

This comes even after Sanders played well against the Saints. However, head coach Todd Monken did not confirm who would start when reporters asked him about the decision on Monday.

“I really haven’t thought through it other than getting through this morning’s tape,” Monken said. “We just got done meeting with the guys; they’ll flush the game, and then we’ll have a chance to meet offensively more extensively a little bit later today.”

Now, let’s wait and see who gets the starting quarterback role in Week 10.