Head Coach Todd Monken (10.18.26)
Opening statement:
“What can you say about our guys? Man, It’s been the last five weeks. It’s been an unbelievable credit to our team, especially our defense. Early on, after 10 points, shutting them out and constantly getting us the ball back and giving us a chance to win. I thought the offense responded better in the second half. We had a couple of drives where we had second-and-shorts and weren’t good enough. But for some reason, just the way our guys work and the way they believe, there’s just something about this group that makes them special and pretty impressive. And we have a lot to work on, and we’ll go back to work tomorrow, but that was pretty cool, just the way the guys fought and to get that big completion at the end, because there were a lot of things that weren’t clean enough, in coaching or playing. But our guys are a scrappy group, and they play their rear ends off for 60 minutes, and that’ll always give you a chance to win.”
Carson (Schwesinger), he’s got the ankle injury, doesn’t practice until Friday, but comes up with, not just comes up with the play of the game, maybe with that strip of Derrick (Henry), but 13 tackles. Just how much does he sort of epitomize this overall team, the grit you’ve been talking about?
“Well, we had a lot of guys that were fighting to get back. You had Quinshon (Judkins), Mason (Graham), Derek Barnett. He was hurting and was able to play. And I know I’m missing some guys. Who else? Mike Hall Jr. We had a number of guys that were fighting to get back, and Carson. What’s interesting is early in the week, the trainers were semi-optimistic, but they said, ‘well, it’s Carson.’ And every time I’d see Carson, and I’d ask him, he would get this silly smirk on his face, like, ‘do you know who you’re talking to?’ Like, ‘if I can go, I’m going to go.’ And then we worked him out Friday, and he was going through the bags, and he was like, ‘well, how do I look?’ Like a little kid. Of course. What did I say? ‘Oh, you look great. I’ve never seen you better. That ankle looks like, I mean, a million bucks.’ And you could just tell, if he could play, he was going to play. And we had a number of those guys that tried like heck to get back and they just couldn’t. And we’ll get them back going forward.”
It’s a division game at home. What does it mean to you to beat the Ravens?
“Means it’s a division game. I’ve got a ton of respect for that organization and the players and the coaches from top to bottom. And like I said, I owe a lot to Coach Harbaugh (John Harbaugh) for hiring me there. Kirby Smart for three years previously, changed my career path in a lot of ways after here, and then John took it to another level there of hiring me. I wouldn’t have this job without them, without the Ravens and without the players and the coaches that were with us and the players that Eric DeCosta and those guys have drafted. And I saw a lot of them afterwards, and it was a lot better with a win, I’ll tell you that, seeing them afterwards. But I wish them nothing but the best, as individuals. I sure as hell don’t want them to win every game. That’s not it. But I had a good talk with Eric before the game, and we both know from afar we wish each other well. There’s no ill will there. It’s a divisional game, and this is all about the players.”
Andre Szmyt, just coming back and making that kick after what happened on the previous one. How cool was that to see?
“No, I mean, when you think about it, he misses an extra point against the Jets, so I don’t know how many kicks in between there. What do we have? One field goal, I guess we had an extra point, a field goal, an extra point. Then he had the miss, right? So, then you get the block, which ends up being like an ice, right? So, it’s like all your rhythm’s off, right? They jump; they get the block. Yeah, we get to move up five yards, but you’ve got to refocus, right? It kind of gets you off a little bit. Like, boy, the last one just got blocked. I know they jumped, but, man, good for him. Good for us. Like, right? Talk about when you’ve got a kicker that’s now made a couple of game-winners and what that means to your team, because whether he makes it or not, it wouldn’t have meant we won or lost the game based on that. But the way it’s looked at from a kicker’s perspective, it falls squarely at that moment. And that’s so cool for him and for our team. It’s hard to really put into words.”
Talk about that last drive, Deshaun (Watson) getting off the mat, he didn’t have the greatest game. But again, last drive came through and Jerry Jeudy.
“I don’t know what to say. I really don’t know what to say. I mean, we go a half feeling like, did we even meet this week, coaching? I mean, did we just take the week off and show up freaking today? I’m joking. But when you put a lot of work into it and you do that, forget the players, as coaches you’re like, ‘boy, we could have just rolled out the same damn game plan last week and done that.’ And Deshaun, he knows he can play better. We can play better around him, but he’s just got something in him, the ability to make a play when needed. We just kind of flatten out some of the other ups and downs that we have. And it starts with me, starts with our offensive staff. And that’s going to always be the case. It’s a we thing, not an individual thing.”
What do you think the biggest difference offensively was between the first half and the second half, where you started to be able to do something?
“I don’t know if I knew that we’d have changed it then. I mean, we just never seemed to get in a rhythm. Whether it was, sometimes we weren’t running. We ran a little bit better, and then you’re trying to get Harold (Fannin Jr.) the ball and you run a screen and they play it good. Well, then you dump it. Well, that’s, screens are great, but you’ve got nowhere else to go, right? So, everybody says the screen game, which, I’m a big believer in it. But when there’s nowhere else to go with the ball, it guarantees what? Frick, you’re at second-and-ten. And when you’re not running as well as you’d like, you’re not throwing as well, that’s not a great down and distance to be in. And we found ourselves in a number of those. And either by scheme, by call, by execution, it’s all of the above. And you’re going to give them credit. Jesse Minter is a hell of a coach. And their staff, they have a great staff, and they’ve got really good players. And when you’re just a little bit off, you don’t get any rhythm. And you don’t get that first first down, you just don’t feel like you’ve got any of that momentum. And we’ve got to look back, like we do every week, and look at it and say, where do we go from there? Because it felt like two weeks ago against Pittsburgh, we kind of felt we’d gotten a little bit of a rhythm there, run and pass and what we were doing, and again, credit to them and their defense. They’ve got good players, good coaches. But did we turn it over today? In four games, four the last five games, we haven’t turned it over till Deshaun at the end of the game last week. So, that’s what’s winning games, right? I mean, now Pittsburgh, we turned it over a couple of times, but we were able to move it offensively. So, if you’re going to scratch and claw your way in these games, you have to go where you don’t turn it over, because their turnovers change the game, right? We’ve had that. We had a chance two weeks ago for Carson to change the game, right? And that’s what it comes down to. Just look across the league in terms of what it is. Thursday night game with Denver and Seattle, right? Three turnovers. I mean, just keep fighting, don’t turn it over. See if we can get it right and find a way to win in the fourth quarter. And like I said, a huge credit to Rudy (Mike Rutenberg), the defensive staff and the players, because after the first 10 points, they did a heck of a job, really.”
Todd, what about just Jerry? You talked about him sort of accepting a different role. I’m sure it takes a level of, like, swallowing your pride to do that, but what does he mean to this team, to this group?
“I gave him a game ball and he deserves it. We’re better on offense when Jerry’s a part of it, and I can certainly do a better job of incorporating him in it. And you can see a difference in his juice in practice and on the field. And that credit goes to him, and his decision to say, ‘all right, this is where it’s at. I’m going all in.’ And what I mean by this, where it’s at with KC (KC Concepcion Jr.) and 12, right? Does that make sense? Like, okay, this is where it’s at. And as a man, he said, ‘I’m going to battle and I’m going to fight, and I want to be a part of this team, and I want to help make plays.’ And it builds confidence for us to continue to play him. And he made a bunch of plays. He’s working every day catching the ball. You can see a difference in that. And like I said, we’re better on offense when we’re able to utilize Jerry and what he can bring in terms of his explosiveness.”
You mentioned Carson’s play to punch the ball and change the game. You’re an offensive guy, I think you normally think about sparks coming from skill guys. What’s it like to have a linebacker that can play like that?
“Gave us a chance last week. We just didn’t take it from there. We went three and out, then had the unfortunate deal on the snap. But, you know, that’s everything. Those momentum plays and how about the defense as a whole? I don’t know what Derrick Henry had in the first drive, but I think, with 58 yards in 17 attempts. He might add 30 yards on the first drive.”
He had 11 and a 17 then he kind of shut it down.
“That’s pretty cool, man, to hold that guy to that. I mean, that’s where it starts, right? Stop their O-line and the engine, and Derrick Henry is their engine. He is the guy that makes it go. He was when I was there and he is now. And for us to do that and to hold them where they were at, man, it’s so cool. So cool when you’re the head coach. Not so much when you call offense, but really cool as the head coach. But for our team, for those guys to keep battling. And at times it just takes one or two stops, and we’ve had that happen to us. We haven’t started fast on offense, which is an understatement. And then defensively, we’ve given up touchdown drives, right? But it hasn’t scarred them, and it seems to have not scarred our guys on offense. Like, I don’t know what to say. Like, let them go score. We don’t do anything, and then all of a sudden we get stops. All of a sudden we figure it out. I don’t know what to say in a lot of ways other than we’ve got a lot of work to do on the offensive side of the ball, and we’ll continue to work at it and get better.”
What can you say about the contribution that Jaleel (McLaughlin) and Audric (Estimé) made? We saw Quinshon try to work out before the game and get back out there. What can you say about those guys?
“Yeah, he fought to try and get back, and hopefully we’ll get Samp (Dylan Sampson) back this week and we’ll get Q back. We’re hopeful to get two. Heck, we didn’t have those guys. But J. Mac ran hard, man. He ran hard. He ran with a passion and a mission. And I thought, that’s hard on hard on Audric. The guy just showed up this week. Hell, I remember it just like it was yesterday, putting up ‘Hey, welcome to the new additions.’ Usually you’re not counting on a plan. They’re going to the practice squad and hanging out and giving some reps. Oh, no, you’re in the show, man. Let’s go. And you get a touchdown. How cool is that for him, right? Like, whatever, you’re on a practice squad in Minnesota, we call you up, and all of a sudden, s— you’re scoring touchdowns. It’s almost as cool as being the head coach of the Browns. I mean, maybe not even close, probably, but it’s almost as cool as that s—. I mean, is there any better than this? To work your whole life and have wins like that. I mean, nothing like that locker room, but I know I that turned into me. I’m not wired that way to turn it about me, but it’s really about those guys and next man up. I’m really, really proud of the guys and the way they battle and their toughness. And now I’m going to enjoy tonight. And that’s what you have to do in the NFL. These are the nights that you don’t ever want to end, because tomorrow it’s on to the next game. And so, I sit there, I know it sounds really goofy, but you sit there in bed and you don’t want the night to end. It’s 10:30 and you’re tired as hell and you want to be up another 15, 20, 30 minutes to enjoy it, because, s—, tomorrow I’ve got to look at the offensive tape and then you’ve got to move on to the next game. And until we get things squared away and move in this direction offensively, every game is going to be a scratch and claw like this. And I love that type of game with the guys we have. We’re wired for that. Our guys are wired for that. Now I prefer the other, but we’re more wired for that. And, man, it’s so cool.”
Given what you just said about the offensive struggles, how do you feel about being 4-2 and on top of the AFC North, despite not playing your best football?
“Well, I think our defense is playing really good. I told that, but we haven’t played our best football on offense. And we’ve had moments on special teams where we’ve let some things slip. I love the way our guys play. Like, we’ve got the right guys, but we do too many things on the offensive side of the ball that hurt us. That doesn’t allow us to stack plays. Coaching and playing collectively. Who we’re going to be, what we have, what they do best, which is still…we’re under construction, man. All you have to do is look at some map where you’ve got all these damn signs and stop, and there’s a Tonka truck, and there’s digging up dirt, and there’s a building and s—. And you’re like, okay, how do we manage this and get ourselves to where we want to be at the end of that path? And that’s what I love about our guys, because it wouldn’t matter if it’s one side or the other, because after the Jacksonville game, our defense, you’re working to fix it. And so that’s what I love about our guys, is they love that path. They love everything that goes into that path. And then you have a chance. If you have the coaches and the players that realize where we’re at. There’s no blame here. There’s owning it and fighting like hell to fix it. And when you have that, you’ve got a special group. Now we just got to clean some stuff up, starting with me.”
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