Head Coach Todd Monken (10.16.26)

 

How do you feel about having all of these guys with a chance to play for you, (Derek) Barnett, (Mason) Graham, (Quinshon) Judkins and (Carson) Schwesinger?

“Yeah, it was good having those guys back out there today, and we’ll see over the next 48 hours where we’re at.”

 

Is KC (Concepcion Jr.) fully out of the concussion protocol or does he still have another step to go with that?

“I think he’s cleared. Yeah, yeah, he was full today.”

 

It seems like Lamar (Jackson) wasn’t seen at practice again today. I mean, we talked about this earlier in the week, but what does Snoop (Tyler Huntley) do for that offense, and how much does it really change for you guys? You say you’re preparing for the Ravens. How much does it really change?

“You know, not much. Not much. I mean, Snoop has athleticism, ability to escape, make plays with his legs, use him in the QB-driven world. He makes quick decisions with the football. He’s a very confident player like Lamar. So, we have to prepare for the Ravens.”

 

Was the plan all along to get a lot of these guys back today? Were you able to see as much as you wanted out of those guys?

“Oh, yeah, no, in terms of some of the guys worked out before the practice, and then the guys in the practice today. So, we were able to see what we needed to see with all of them.”

 

Mason and Carson, they’re only in the second year of their careers, but anytime they’ve been injured, it just seems like they fight through whatever, whether it’s a broken rib or a high ankle sprain. How much do you appreciate that as their coach, that they just kind of have that mentality?

“Well, they’re wired the right way. They just are. If they can go, they’re going to go. And not only the way they’re wired, but also in terms of how much the team means to them. Right. And that’s what ‘team’ says, when you’re willing to play hurt, when you’re willing to chase the ball, when you’re willing to be connected on a daily basis. So, those guys are wired the right way. We have a number of guys like that. I don’t mean that just to single out those two guys, but they’re wired the right way in their approach.”

 

Speaking of wired, I was watching KC during warmups and he’s dancing, and it just seems like he’s raring to go and has a great attitude heading into this game coming out of a concussion. How great is it to see him?

“He’s another one. He’s another one that’s wired the right way. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him come in the building or have a bad day without a smile on his face and enjoying life. He wants to be coached. He wants to be a great player. He brings it every day on the practice field. And he’s very diligent in his approach to what we’re trying to do offensively from an assignment standpoint. And that’s why he’s ascended up the depth chart as fast as he has. Same with Denzel (Boston).”

 

Being around Derrick Henry for your time there firsthand, are you surprised that he’s still playing at such a high level, given his age? What have you learned about him?

“Well, with Derrick, age is just a number. The way he takes care of himself on a daily basis, you can say impressive, and it’s probably not enough, in terms of what he puts in his body, how he brings it every day. He’s very prideful, doesn’t like being wrong. Like, if you correct him and you’re wrong, you’re going to hear about it, and deservedly so. And he’d get those eyes wide open and come right over to you. And because he’s, again, very prideful in the work that he puts in, it’s fun to be around every day, guys like that. And, I mean, a first ballot Hall of Famer, gold jacket guy. And he doesn’t talk a lot. He speaks with his work.”

 

Derrick also said this week that he knows you and says that you might be downplaying your emotions going into this game, but in the background, he’s pretty sure that you’re talking trash to your players about them.

“Talking trash? I mean, I saw that about 18 people sent me that. Like, I’m not even on social media and you guys send me this sh*t. So, I mean, I’ve got a ton of respect for Derrick. I loved being around him for two years, and those guys. Like, it’s another game week. It’s a divisional game, and it’s not personal. It’s strictly business. I’ll do the whole Godfather thing, and basically, it’s a divisional game against a really good team that I have a lot of respect for, and for those players. So, yeah, do I want to win? Not any different than any other week. And my message isn’t any different this week than it was the previous five weeks in terms of the things we have to do to be successful. That basically is us, right? What do we have to do first? And then what do we have to do relative to what we think they’re going to put out there. And that’s really it. I mean, I get a kick out of it with those guys.”

 

You mentioned separating the personal from the business. How much of it is the nomadic nature of the coaching business, pro sports in general, players that you can’t let personal feelings, the emotions of nostalgia or whatever, come into play during a week like this?

“Well, I don’t. I mean, I don’t have that. I had a great three years there. We did a lot of really good things. We had really good coaches and really good players, and everything in life has a shelf life. It just does, and it just happened to be last year. And I’ve said this, I don’t get this job without being at the Ravens and without the success we had and the players we had. So why would I be bitter over that? I’m not. I have a lot of respect for them, and like I said, I look forward to competing. It’ll be a little bit different. There’s no way it’s not. It’s not like they traded out half their team. I mean, there’s a number of those guys that are still there that I was in the building with for a number of years. But that’s part of it, right? Let’s go out there and play our best football and see where it goes.”

 

Todd, I don’t know if you did know this for sure when you sat down, but Lamar Jackson has been ruled out for this game, so you guys definitely will be facing Snoop. Does that change anything at all about your mindset, your preparation?

“No. I mean, it doesn’t. Snoop’s played well. He really has. If you go back to, what, the last game they played, our Green Bay game last year, our Bears game when he started, he’s played well. There’s a reason why they signed him back. Right? You don’t sign back players that you don’t have a lot of trust in and plan on them playing well. And it’s our job to negate some of the things that he does well and get after all of them. It’s not just Snoop. There are a lot of good players around him, and they do a good job schematically. So, it’s going to be a real challenge.”

 

Just when it comes to Snoop, why do you think he’s had such staying power as a backup, particularly mainly with one organization? What about him has allowed him to be able to do that?

“Well, what I think, first of all, is his confidence. He has a confidence within himself and loves to play the game. And so, nothing gets too big for him. Like it doesn’t. And so, the ups and downs of offseason and training camp, or those kinds of things, or games that you play it doesn’t. And he’s got such a great personality. He’s fun to be around, he’s diligent in his approach, and he mirrors some of the things you can do with Lamar. And so, I think that makes him valuable to certain organizations more than others. Right. Where you don’t have to change the plan so drastically, should something happen to your starter. And I think that has shown to be true over the years with Snoop. And like I said, I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He’s fun to be around. I enjoyed him a lot.”

 

When you guys first kind of got KC in here. Did Zay Flowers offer some sort of template, kind of what you guys did with him in his career?

“Oh yeah. Oh yeah. No, I mean, when you have a player that is a volume catch player, right? Not only just a novelty fly sweep screen guy, but a route runner that you can play, that can make plays down the field. And that’s why, at their size, they get elevated in the draft. I mean, that’s why, because they can separate, and you can get the ball to them in a number of ways. It doesn’t have to be down the field. But the other thing that elevates that is how they’re wired, and both of them are wired at this level in terms of practice, in terms of the day-to-day, how they approach it. They’re fun to be around and they’re fun to coach, and they make you a better coach.”

 

When you first watched KC on tape last February/March, did you think, “that could be Zay”?

“Oh yeah. I mean, I would never say that ‘that could be Zay’, because Zay is Zay. But I said there’s a number of things you can do with him, not only because of his skill set, because of his mindset, because of the way he approaches every day. At least what we thought. Right? Or that we’d heard, we hadn’t been around him. So, there’s a little bit there that you’re not sure of, but KC is KC and Zay is Zay.”

 

You screen game, first, what are your impressions of your screen game?

“It’s been inconsistent. I think you could probably put it up there with most of the things we’ve been doing on offense, which have been up and down, some good and some bad. There’s a lot of things we need to improve on. And at times I felt pretty good about it, and then at other times, you don’t feel nearly as good about it. And that’s week-to-week, right? Like, it felt okay. We came out of the Pittsburgh game feeling good about a lot of things, and we didn’t handle the elements. We came out of that feeling not good about a lot of things. That’s part of what happens, right, in this league. So, what do you do? You look in the mirror and you say, ‘how do we coach it better? How do we scheme it better? How do we execute it better across the board in everything we’re doing, right?’ And every day.”

 

Is that all about timing?

“Some of it’s that. Some of it’s timing, some of it’s when you’re calling it, some of it’s the looks that you get. Your sample size in a given game can be pretty small. It’s not as if, you know, you could say, how’d you feel about your run game execution? You could say, well, we had 30 run game snaps, a little easier. You threw three or four screens and they didn’t go. You’re a block away or a time away, whatever that is. And then, you know, there’s certainly room for improvement in everything we’re doing. That just happens to be one piece of it.”

 

You’ve talked about how your experience has prepared you for where you are now how Baltimore set you up for coming here. I’m sure at each stop you’ve learned something different. What’s the biggest thing you feel you took away from your time in Baltimore that’s helped you prepare to be ready for this job?

“There’s just way too many. You know, there just is, from top to bottom. A lot of it has to do with Coach (John) Harbaugh, because that’s who I directly work for. But there’s more than that in terms of drafting players. You know, the way the building is run, when you come into work every day and the people that are there. I certainly have improved greatly in the three years that I was there as a coach, as you should. And so, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without those three years. And a lot of people in the organization and the players have a lot to do with that, of what shapes you, right? Whatever that might be. And it helped shape me in a lot of ways. The good and the bad that we go through. That you look back and say, I could have done this better, or the things that you agree that we did a really good job at. That all comes from your ability to grow and learn from certain things that you would handle differently. The way you would approach things, not only schematically, but then as the head coach.”

 

You mentioned drafting players. Is that something in Baltimore that maybe you had more hands-on experience with than you had previously in your career?

“I think Eric (DeCosta) does a really good job of including the staff. And there comes a point where obviously in any Draft procedure, you’re not going to get your way. But I think they do a great job, just like here, of having your say. I mean, I think that’s all an assistant coach wants, is the ability to have their say. Ultimately, the people that are in charge of the Draft have to make the decision. And then it’s your job to develop every player to get the most out of them that you can. And I thought we did a really good job of that there. And I think we’re doing a really good job of that here to try and develop the players. I mean, you’re not going to have a readymade roster. And I saw that close up. I’m not saying other organizations don’t do that, but I haven’t been part of every organization. I just had an appreciation for Ozzie (Newsome) and Eric and the way that they went about their business. And obviously, I have an affection for Harbs, and the way he went about his business as a head coach. And I learned a lot, really, from Coach on an everyday basis in terms of how you handle the team, and I grew in terms of being better at how you handle players, right? On a day-to-day basis. And that’s what you do. You grow and you learn from your past experiences.”

 

Did some of what you went through with Lamar last year help you in how you communicate with Deshaun (Watson) this year, how you deal with him?

“Some of that, some of it’s a part of that. It’s not just him, there’s other players. Like anything, I mean, you’re human. And I always say it, you own it, you fight like hell to fix it. And people have been really good over the years. It’s not just there. I’ve been lucky enough to be around people that will tell you the truth. And that’s what you’re always hoping for in life, as you get around people that will tell you the truth, good and bad. ‘Man, that was a great job today. Man, that was awesome.’ And then there’s other times where they’ve got to say, ‘you know what, you didn’t really handle that as well as you needed to.’ And then it’s up to you as a human being. Are you going to change, and are you going to look in the mirror and say, ‘this can be better? This XYZ can be better.’ And so that’s not just there. There were things at Georgia, and before then here, right? And then before then at Tampa. It’s just life. It really is. And how you choose to pivot in terms of the information they have, or build off what’s good, and, you know, fix the things that aren’t nearly up to where you want it to be, is really the magic right there. That’s really where it’s at.”

 

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