Head Coach Todd Monken (7.29.26)

What was the message you delivered to the full team yesterday?

“Really wasn’t much different than when I got here five months ago.”

 

Can you highlight that for us again?

“I really can’t remember. What did I say? I really can’t remember.”

 

Does it feel any different for you Todd now that this will be your first training camp practice as a head coach? What does that mean to you?

“A dream come true is probably the best way to put it. You work your whole life for an opportunity, not sure if it ever comes, and if it didn’t, then that’s what’s meant to be. So obviously, a dream come true.”

 

When you talk about setting the tone for the season in training camp, what are your expectations of your team over these next six weeks?

“One thing I did tell the team, now that I remember what I said, was, I was going to tell the team, ‘it’s time’. If you came and watched us practice, when they stepped on the field in the spring — whether it was rookie minicamp, voluntary minicamp, mandatory minicamp or OTAs — it was time. They practiced their rear ends off, so I didn’t expect anything different today.”

 

We know where we left off with the quarterback issue, where are we now? Do you just pick up alternating at this point?

“Yeah, nothing’s really changed. We anticipate alternating. First of all, four quarterbacks are going to compete, but they won’t all get equal reps. We’ll alternate just like we did in the spring with Deshaun (Watson) and Shedeur (Sanders) with the ones.”

 

Do you have a timeline for naming a starting quarterback, and how do you plan to divide reps in the preseason?

“The easiest way for me to say that and it still won’t stop everyone from asking, not you particularly but it will be the first game. We’re going to have to have a starter for the first game, right? Ultimately, I’m not going to decide who the starter is; they decide, by their play. Their play decides who the starter is, I don’t have any preconceived notions of how they’ve played in the past or how they’re going to play. I can only judge with my eyes, and guys have to play well around them. I think we’ve shored some things up front, we’ve added some weapons on the perimeter, so I think that’s going to help. But they’ll decide who plays; I don’t decide who plays. The players decide who plays.”

 

Do you mean first game of the season or the preseason?

“First game of the season. No, we are going to play in the preseason.”

 

Right off the bat? The Chicago game, you’ll play starters?

“We’re going to play in the preseason. I won’t back myself into a corner. Right now, I plan on playing the starters, but I plan on playing our guys. We’re going to see what we’ve got, especially at quarterback.”

 

All the way back to owner’s meetings, you noted that you wouldn’t be able to do equal reps. In terms of reps, will you start to trend toward your presumptive starter? Will you start to see one guy maybe taking more reps again?

“It’s possible, but I don’t decide that. The players will decide that. As camp goes on and you start to see less rotation, and you start to see individual players at every position getting more reps with the ones, it’s a pretty good sign they’re a one.”

 

Any update on Maliek Collins being cleared during training camp?

“Too early to say, but he looks great. I mean watching him outside, he’s done an unbelievable job this offseason with his rehabilitation, being down in Houston with his family. The first day we had the young guys here, shoot, I thought he was ready then. I won’t speak for him, I won’t speak for our medical staff, but I do anticipate that if we don’t have any setbacks, at some point we’ll have him.”

 

Will anyone be limited today from an injury standpoint?

“I don’t see it unless something happens between now and another half hour, I don’t anticipate anybody else being limited.”

 

When you say all four quarterbacks are going to compete, we’ve been viewing this course as a two-way competition with Shedeur and Deshaun, what does that mean for Dillon (Gabriel) and Taylen (Green)?

“I think I said it in the spring, everybody on the roster competes. You’re in the NFL; equal reps doesn’t mean you’re not going to compete. Obviously, you don’t have as many opportunities, so you have to take advantage of the ones you get. You never know how it’s going to go at any position. Minor injuries are a part of training camp, guys go down, their shoulders are a little sore, Dillon comes in, someone comes in and plays well or another position. We have to divide the reps according to the depth chart. In a perfect world in camp, me personally, I would prefer the ones to get 50 percent, the twos 33 percent and the threes 17 percent, and somewhere the other guys have to fill in. Can you always count on that? No. The more guys you start to see with the ones, you can anticipate they’re our starters.”

 

With the pass rush, obviously Jared Verse is new here, and then you have Alex Wright stepping into a bigger role, but the rotation of players that come after them— how important is this camp for identifying your depth on the ends and the interior?

“First of all, I’m excited once we get the pads on, because we spent all spring without pads on them. That’s when you really get an opportunity to evaluate the offensive line first, in terms of where we’re at which is going to be a critical component for everything we want to do offensively. Obviously, up front, I’ve got a lot of respect for Alex Wright and Isaiah McGuire, Julian (Okwara) and our interior guys are super explosive off the ball. So, I’m excited to see all of them.”

 

How quickly do you want the offensive line situation figured out?

“It would be great. The sooner the better, but again, the players will determine that. Obviously, we brought in three highly regarded free agents, we anticipate those guys starting for us, but that’s still to be determined. We’re not at the first game yet. We’ll see Spencer (Fano), Austin (Barber), Parker (Brailsford), the rookies, along with the guys who were on the roster previously.”

 

Can you clarify how much hitting you’re planning for this camp? Do you tackle to the ground at?

“No, we won’t tackle to the ground. We won’t go to the ground, we’ll thud. We’re not going to bring anybody to the ground.”

Will you utilize all 16 padded practices?

“I don’t know that. I haven’t gone that far ahead. We really have time up until Buffalo, and I don’t anticipate that, they allow that. But it is difficult to get all of those in leading up until then, but I never say never.”

 

Big news yesterday with the extension of Denzel Ward. How do you feel about having one of your team leaders and best players in the fold and wrapped up like that?

“He’s one of the elite players in the NFL, well deserved. At this point, which is really cool, is that you get paid for what we anticipate to get. Nobody pays somebody for what they’ve already done. You’re still anticipating. We anticipate he’s going to keep playing at a high level, and I see nothing that will stop him from being at an elite level. I’m happy for him, to continue playing at a high level, he’ll always be a Cleveland Brown, being from here. I think it’s really cool. I was fired up for him, he had a big smile on his face yesterday. It’s been something I know Andrew’s (Berry) been working on this, and we’re fired up.”

 

When you were the offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens and you were preparing to play the Browns, how did you scheme with Denzel Ward in mind?

“It became a little more difficult when we added Tyson (Campbell), and there we played the Browns and Denzel was banged up, so it hasn’t always been when he was out there. But I think you do have to be careful, he’s got unbelievable tracking speed and can play the ball in the air, and his ability to break on the ball, so you can’t be late with your throws. You’ve got to be careful down the field because he’s going to track it and compete. Those were the things I had to be leery of because of his speed to track the ball.”

 

What’s the thought process behind only having one joint practice day with Buffalo?

“I think it’s gotten to that with all teams. I think most teams now end up with one practice, end up going a day early or they come a day early. I would guess it’s probably because, I don’t know what the percentage is, but I always felt like the second day is when the fights started. Guys get pissy the day before, then the night meetings, you start huffing and puffing and it’s like if you’ve seen the movie Slap Shot when the Hansen brothers drop the gloves and s***, the National Anthem is starting and there’s already fighting and you’re already telling guys to be careful. So, I think it’s gotten to that a little bit where you just go one practice. We would have liked to have practiced with the Bears, but it didn’t work out. We would have liked to have gone. We’re going to go a day early and have dinner up there, but it didn’t work out.”

 

You didn’t get to see much of Harold Fannin during the offseason program, but he was running around last week. How does he look to you, and do you feel like he’s going to be a focal point of what you’re trying to do?

“He looked really good last week. He’s still a young player, developing player, but what a great mindset. He wants to get better and works awfully hard. You guys have seen him. One thing I didn’t know that I saw last year is his yards after contact; I didn’t see that at Bowling Green, maybe I didn’t study hard enough. I don’t know, I didn’t see that. Man, is he hard to tackle. As he develops his route running skills, I wouldn’t say he’s a matchup guy yet, I think he’ll continue to develop as a blocker. But, if you get him the ball, I think he’s a hard guy to bring down. I think he’s a powerful man and only going to get better.”

 

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