Head Coach Todd Monken (10.14.26)
We’ve seen today that KC (Concepcion Jr.) is going to practice today on a limited basis. Just how nice is it for you guys to see what you saw on Sunday and then have him out there on Wednesday?
“Well, we’ll see. I mean, we’re not going to rule anybody in or out today, but we’ve got a number of guys dealing with some minor issues, and we’ll see today and the rest of the week.”
I mean, he was knocked out cold on the field. His eyes were rolling in the back of his head. It was a scary sight for everyone. For him to kind of have this kind of turnaround, how is that?
“No, just from a player’s health perspective, it’s cool that it wasn’t worse than it was, and so that’s probably the biggest thing from a health standpoint.”
I know the staff is different, but is there any benefit in knowing player tendencies having worked with Lamar (Jackson) having gone against their defensive players, is there any extra benefit in terms of planning?
“I don’t know about that. I mean, it gets offset by us, what we do on offense, I guess, a little bit. I’ve got a lot of respect for their players, and I think what you see is what you get from them in terms of schematically and how they play.”
Do you prepare for Lamar not knowing for sure who will start?
“I think you prepare for the Ravens. I mean, that’s what you’re going to prepare for. They’ve got a really good coaching staff, and I’ve been there before where we played Snoop (Tyler Huntley), and Snoop’s a really good football player and won a bunch of games as the starter. So, we’ll prepare for the Ravens.”
Is there any emotion for you, playing against them after having been there so long?
“I mean, it’s a divisional game, and it’s the next one, really, is what that is. I mean, did I enjoy my time there? Of course. A lot of really good memories. Got a lot of good friends and people there, but other than that, no, it’s a divisional game. It’s the next one.”
What is it about Snoop that he’s been able to work so well for so many years as almost Lamar’s understudy?
“Very confident player. He has a belief in himself to make plays, and he’s really a gamer. I know it sounds really overused, but the moment never gets too big for him. He loves to play football, and he gets in the game and he’s able to make plays with his arms and his legs, and he gets rid of the ball and knows where to get the ball out when under duress. And he works awfully hard. He’s very diligent in preparing as the backup. So, when his time is called, he’s able to play at a high level.”
After (John) Harbaugh left, were you surprised with how quickly they resigned Huntley?
“Not really, not by the way we had played with him as our starter. Not after the way he played in the Bears game, and then later in the Patriots second half, and then the Packers game. I was not surprised.”
When you were in your old office there, how did you read Denzel Ward when you were getting ready to play against him?
“An elite cover guy. A guy that does a great job of staying in phase with receivers and closes on the ball well down the field, you can see that. And has excellent ball skills. Able to make catches at the catch point.”
How, if at all, has their defense changed this year?
“Oh, it’s changed dramatically in terms of – I think the league has changed dramatically in terms of defensive coordinators’ approaches to the way the game has changed in terms of analytics, and offenses taking four downs and their approach being more aggressive. But the personnel is very similar. They’ve added some pieces, but the personnel is still very similar.”
What stood out to you about what Declan Doyle has been able to do with that offense and how he has changed it?
“Well, Declan, first of all, I GA’d with his dad. So, I know the family, I mean, way back at Notre Dame, and GA’d for Jesse’s (Minter) dad, who’s there, Rick (Minter). So, I go way back with the family. But Declan’s a tremendous coach. I mean, when you talk about going from New Orleans and then to Denver, and has ascended quickly and really, really smart, and he’s doing a great job with them. I mean, been around some really good mentors. Highly intelligent, doing some more under center with Lamar, which is working. The stats bear that out, that they’re doing a great job.”
A lot of your running backs that are available today were not with you in training camp; you have nobody who was part of this program in training camp…
“Well, it’s part of the next man up. Right? That’s why you keep bringing in players and getting them up to speed, and we’ll see, as the week goes on, who we’ll have available.”
One more on Denzel. When you were with the Ravens, did you say, “we can’t throw at this guy”?
“I don’t think you…I think Denzel is a fantastic player as there are a lot of corners out there, but I don’t think there’s any time you can just say we can’t throw at an individual player or we can’t block an individual player. There are certainly more difficult matchups than others, right? But you certainly have to be leery of players like that that are ball hawking style, that you know can read routes and jump it.”
Can you talk about the communication in the protection game that needs to be improved? Where does that start? Is it Deshaun (Watson) and Elgton (Jenkins) being on the same page? Like, what needs to improve?
“Well, it starts with coaching. That’s where it starts. It starts with us, and that’s where it always starts. We have to make sure that our guys are…we’re giving them the looks, and that we’re diligent in terms of every single rep matters, from the walkthrough to the blitz pickup periods. And we’re consistent in terms of our protection and communication. That’s a part of it too. How are we coaching it? How are we scheming it? Are we giving them the right looks to start our communication right up front? Quarterback and center, they’re the epicenter of the communication piece and just making sure we’re on the same page. And that’s part of the growing pains, unfortunately, of a new system, different running backs in the backfield, young players. There’s not a lot of recall there, right? Something pops up and you’re like, ‘oh, yeah. Oh, that’s…’ And that’s not an excuse, because I’m not a big excuse guy. We certainly have to find a way to be better, because we weren’t. And some of it’s getting the ball out, some of it’s coaching, some of it’s communication, some of it’s diligence. But we know it has to be fixed.”
With Dylan Sampson being designated for return, being eligible to practice, do you anticipate him being out on the practice field today, and will you monitor him throughout the week? Is there a chance he can play on Sunday?
“I think there’s a chance. He’ll be out there today, and we’re excited that his window has been opened.”
You mentioned that they’re doing more with Lamar (Jackson) under center that seems to be a league-wide trend. Why do you think that’s a trend across the league?
“Oh, you’d have to ask the teams that do it. I think everybody’s comfortable with where they’ve been and what you know, and you can only coach what you know. I think obviously some of the run game, it’s more advantageous to be under center. I think your play action game, your nakeds, I think play off of that. I think everybody would say that. So that’s a part of it.”
How is that more advantageous for the run game to start under center?
“Well, you’re at the home position, right? You don’t have an offset back, right? There are no tells at times, because then you’re constantly having to move your back, or you have to be in, what, the pistol, right? Which teams have gone to. You saw it with the Falcons last year, with Bijan (Robinson) being in the pistol. So, I mean, all of it’s good football. It’s just deciding where you want to start and what you do from, whether you’re under center or offset or whether you’re in the pistol. All of it’s good football.”
Is it possible to have designed quarterback runs under center?
“It is. It’s a lot more difficult. I mean, you certainly can. The Bears against, was it against the Carolina Panthers, the first game? They ran like a little naked, but they were blocking for him, so it wasn’t even a naked. So, it’s not very common. It’s not very common to have QB driven. You’re going to have more nakeds. You’re not going to use the quarterback nearly as much. But I did see one that made me think about that, Tony (Grossi).”
You obviously had your unique ways of using Zay Flowers when you were in Baltimore. How have you seen him get better and better as a player both from your time there and I know this year he’s talked about how he’s getting moved around a lot more. Just how have you seen him get better this year?
“First of all, from the moment he got there, you could see his skill set was beyond a novelty. You could see that his ability to route run and stay full speed, his balance and body control is elite. And just his personality, what he brought every single day in terms of work, loves to practice, got a smile on his face, and he’s just continued to get better and better. And it was hard the first year because we wanted to move him around. And we moved him around, maybe not as much as they’re moving him around now, but we did move him around. But it’s much harder when you’re a younger player. But we certainly were trying to put Zay in position to catch as many balls as he could. And I don’t care how many balls you get him, it’s not enough.”
Philosophically, why is it harder to kind of keep an eye out or guard any receiver that lines up in the slot as opposed to on the outside?
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess you could argue that the distance between the throw and the player is easier. I mean, you’re talking about the distance of a throw from a slot as a general rule. You’re getting more and more choice routes out of those guys. You’re getting more intermediate routes. Again, the distance is a part of that. I think it times your matchup gets created with nickels or safeties, that’s a part of that. And I think you also have body types, that guys a lot of times in a slot create that type of separation. So, I think there’s a lot more than just one thing. But off the top of my head, that’s what hit my brain.”
Three tight ends were a big part of the Ravens last year. Not so much this year. Is it a little easier to prepare for them defensively?
“A little bit. But with what they do under center, their run play action and naked game, maybe from a personnel standpoint it’s a little bit different. But with what they do and the players they have, very difficult to defend.”
You’ve got two rookies on a completely rebuilt offensive line, what strides have you seen in the last couple of weeks out of the entire group? And I know it’s complicated by some injuries and some other variables.
“Well, first of all, we didn’t handle the elements very well the other day, but I’d started to see strides playing against Pittsburgh, and the Jets were a little bit more aggressive. What I’ve seen is we took a step back a little bit in communication, obviously in protections. But in terms of running off the football, I’ve seen strides there. I’ve seen our confidence build with our right guard and our left tackle, the rookies, and I think that’s only going to continue to grow. And the guys, in terms of playing together, I think they’re just going to continue to get better and better.”
I was going to say, is it time on task as far as the communication thing is concerned?
“Some of it’s that, and some of it’s, you’re just going to have to make a decision. I mean, you have to make a decision. There’s a 40 second clock. You don’t have all day. It’s like taking, if you remember back, taking the ACT and the SAT, you’re going to have to answer the question. You’re going to run out of time. If you had all day, that’s different. We don’t have all day. I mean, there’s a clock. You have to make a decision and live with it and know where you’re going and know where your issues are. And that starts with us as coaches and making sure we are on point, and then it’s up to the players. Once we get it in there, that’s what we’re doing and be on point.”
Was there any awkwardness last January working for the Ravens, trying to get this job?
“Absolutely not. I would say that I’m very grateful for the opportunity. Where basically John (Harbaugh) was let go, and they allowed me to work in my office and prepare for the interview that I had here, because it was initially on Zoom. So, I did that out of my office. I continued to work out of my office. I was allowed to continue to keep working there. And again, I didn’t have to do that, so that part of it wasn’t awkward for me. I mean, I was trying to get another job. I don’t think it was awkward for them. We’d been around it for three years. I mean, there’s a lot of appreciation of me for the people in the building, and I would think there’s appreciation for the job that I did every day there.”
You talk about next man up, but when you look at the number of guys that aren’t available to practice, do you adjust anything based on that, or…?
“We’ll adjust. We’ll adjust today. There’ll be a little more walk through in certain periods today that we have to do. We just won’t have the numbers with the availability of our team. We still have to get full speed work in certain areas, and we will do that.”
The history between these two teams, obviously both documented, both here and I’m sure in Baltimore. Obviously, you were here before, but is it weird being the head coach on the other side of it knowing the history between these two?
“Not really. I don’t know if that’s the answer that everybody wants to hear. I mean, ultimately, I have a job to do, just like I had a job to do there, just like I had a job to do in ‘19. And the job is, what can I do today to help our team get better and keep taking strides to play winning football? And that’s really all I think about. I mean, there’s other times. I mean, it’s a divisional game. It’s a big game for us, and it’s the next one. That’s really as much as anything, we’re just trying to continue to develop our players and play as clean of football. And, offensively, three of the last four games, we really haven’t turned it over. We ended up, late in the last game, and that gives us a chance. We got to continue down that path of not turning the ball over. It hasn’t always been clean, but the Pittsburgh game, that stopped us. But the other two games, and then Sunday gave us a chance.”
###
***Visit the Browns Media Center for materials provided by the Browns communications department, including media schedules, press releases, quotes, photos, media guides, rosters, depth charts and more.***