Shedeur Sanders reacts to taking late hit to knees vs. Kansas

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders suffered a low hit in Saturday’s game against Kansas that left him grimacing in pain on the turf. But after a day or two, he appears no worse for the wear.

Sanders has an interesting strategy for staying healthy as a quarterback, one that may have saved him on Saturday.

He walked through what he was thinking when the hit occurred. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t about himself or his health, but rather about the game.

“Well initially nothing, honestly,” Sanders said of his thoughts. “It’s just did I complete the pass? That’s what it was. I didn’t hear our crowd that was there cheer, so I realized it was an incomplete pass. Then after that, the linemen and everybody helped me off the ground and that’s really it.”

No flag was thrown on the play, which certainly appeared to be both a late hit and a low hit. Kansas defensive end Dean Miller came barreling in low as Sanders released his pass, hitting Sheduer Sanders squarely in the knees.

But there was no real damage done, despite how bad the hit looked.

“I mean I’m the one doing it, so I didn’t know it looked like that,” Sanders said on his 2Legendary with Shedeuer Sanders podcast. “An important piece of quarterbacking is always keep your knees bent. So that’s, I would say the advice that I always give to anybody playing the position. I know what works for me personally. Not saying it’s right, not saying it’s wrong, but it works for me personally. That’s how I feel like I avoid injuries and things like that. I never keep my legs locked out because that’s when you have those knee injuries and all those type of stuff.”

Shedeur Sanders has done a nice job staying healthy despite playing behind a Colorado offensive line that has been downright porous at times over the past two seasons.

In fact, he’s put up Heisman Trophy type numbers this season even working within those limitations.

How does Sanders do it? Well, that advice he gave seems to work just fine.

“I’m used to things falling right in front of me, or close calls with everything, so first and foremost I thank God,” Shedeur Sanders said. “Secondly I just rely on the training or the instincts I have.

“Say you’re in the pocket and somebody falls around your legs, around your knees, you always got to keep them bent so none of those type of injuries can happen. Sometimes you can’t control, but what you can control is doing the small things. That’s what I feel like in years after years of just getting reps of falling and tackling and different type of stuff, I feel like that all helped me in that moment.”