There's been a lot of people speaking for Shedeur Sanders since he arrived in Cleveland back in April. Particularly when he began his NFL journey with the Browns as the No. 4 quarterback on the depth chart. 

While critics accused head coach Kevin Stefanski of "sabotaging Sanders", and setting him up for failure, the Browns sixth-year head man was truly doing what he thought was best for Sanders' development. On Thursday, the rookie finally spoke for himself on the subject. 

"Well what people do outside the building isn't really in my control," the rookie QB said of outside commentary of his situation. "It's not in my power. It's not like I can go out there and tell 'em to do whatever. That's not nothing I can control or nothing I could do."

As far as his relationship with Stefanski goes, there's nothing to see here. 

"Overall, I'm just happy to be here," he said. "Coach Stefanski, he's been coaching since I got here and we've been doing a very great job with everything that's going on."

In many ways the Browns invited the outside criticism when they drafted two quarterbacks in the NFL Draft. Oregon product Dillon Gabriel was selected 50 picks prior to Sanders in the third round, which paved the way for him to get a look before ever turning things over to Sanders. 

Their evaluation of both players left them feeling like Gabriel was further ahead, and that Sanders simply had some things to work on. That's not abnormal for a rookie QB, but it was hardly an answer that satisfied the staunchest Sanders' supporters. 

It all came to a head when Sanders was thrust into action in Week 11 after Gabriel exited a matchup with the Baltimore Ravens due to a concussion. Sanders went on to complete just four of his 16 pass attempts and a potential game-tying drive came up short in the waning minutes of the game. 

Asked about not giving any first-team reps to Sanders throughout the season, which could have left him more prepared for the moment, Stefanski was adamant that it's not customary for any backup QB to take snaps with the ones during the season. 

"We trust our players," Stefanski added after the fact. "Shedeur is putting in great work. You know, on the field, in the meeting room, he will be better with reps that he’s getting. Like any player would better." 

After a week centered around him as the No. 1 QB, he was better, completing 11-of-20 passes for 206 yards, while tossing his first career touchdown and an interception in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders. 

It was enough to keep the job moving forward. The numbers weren't the main reason for that, though. Sanders' showed notable improvements with some of the tendencies that kept him buried on the depth chart when he arrived to town. Maybe most importantly, his pocket presence. 

"We really had one sack for negative three yards on a coverage sack. We went max protection, didn't really have any underneath options, moved forward in the pocket with great ball security," Stefanski explained. "So that's a great lesson for the young quarterback. And we took a sack, but it was just for minus three. We maintained possession of the ball. He had great ball security throughout that, but it only, you have great success over the course of a game by everybody being on the same page."

Sanders has been extremely candid about how the last seven months have been for him, and how he wasn't where he wanted to be. Through it all – and despite what people may think externally – he maintains a pretty normal work relationship with his head coach. 

"Definitely like a coach. He tells me what I need to do on and off the field," said Sanders. "We've definitely grown, our relationship and everything has grown. I'm just thankful to be here."