Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, the program’s star once again, made news with his comments following a recent postgame news conference. No surprise that his calling the media “entertainers” generated a lot of debate. This simple comment resulted in a massive Twitter storm. A lot of others took it as a shady shot at Shedeur Sanders, the QB at Colorado and son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
The context of Gabriel’s comments comes in the wake of his recent performance and the ongoing competition for the team’s starting quarterback position. Gabriel in his most recent performance against UTSA, Gabriel was 13-for-18 passing and amassed 143 yards. He had two costly turnovers: one was a pick six and the other a fumble lost. Shedeur Sanders put on a show for the sold-out crowd in his preseason debut. He was done 14 of 23 passes for 138 yards and had two dazzling touchdowns.
Gabriel’s remark regarding “entertainers” was clearly not meant as a shot at Sanders, as he went on to explain during that same press availability. He repeatedly made clear that his interest is in competing, not clowning around.
“Yeah, first off, I’m all about our team and each other. I would never make that comment about Sanders and I’ve said it before that’s why it’s interesting, but for me I’ve explained it entertainers are you all, competitor, that’s what I am, and all my teammates and we both have jobs to do, so that’s it.” – Dillon Gabriel
With Gabriel and Sanders jostling for the starting quarterback job, Sanders has a chance to prove his worth. Don’t forget about veteran QBs Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett joining the battle. Flacco has been taking all the first-team reps in practice, as the battle intensifies between the quartet of signal callers.
Shedeur Sanders has been sidelined from recent games due to an oblique injury, which has raised questions about his availability as the season approaches. So even with that injury, his remarkable summer work still has him in the mix to start.
Gabriel kept coming back to the same theme of having to only focus on his own game.
“Yeah, it’s just part of it. You know, there’s entertainers and there’s competitors, and I totally understand that. But my job is to compete. And that’s what I’m focused on doing,” – Dillon Gabriel
Perhaps more important than their stats and prospects are the dynamics among these quarterbacks as they head into training—and soon, games—together. With every player performing from their natural position, the battle for a spot on this tough quad continues to be highly contested.
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