On the day the Browns benched veteran quarterback Joe Flacco for rookie Dillon Gabriel, it’s natural for the media to seek comments from Flacco, Gabriel, and the team’s other quarterback: rookie Shedeur Sanders.

And so Sanders met with reporters in the locker room. In response to every question, he smiled, moved his mouth, but didn’t speak .

It’s unclear whether miming answers satisfies the league’s media policy. In past situations, the NFL’s position has been that the player only has to be available to take questions; answers don’t have to be given. For Marshawn Lynch, it was acceptable to repeatedly say, “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.”

It’s also unclear why Sanders opted for silence. He was possibly unwilling to toe the party line regarding the depth chart, which still has

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