Head Coach Todd Monken (10.30.26)

Were you big Sticks growing up?

“No, not particularly. I did like Sticks. I mean, that was pretty big when I was growing up, right?”

 

So, it looks like you don’t know yet, I guess, obviously, if you’re going to have (Tytus) Howard, do you let that run again?

“Yeah. We’ll have a better idea in the morning. We do have a practice tomorrow to work our way through it.”

 

And how has Dawand (Jones) performed all week?

“Been fine. Been fine.”

 

So, there’s enough time for Tytus (Howard), without practicing until now, to still pass protocol?

“Yes.”

 

Todd, the first time you played Pittsburgh, they had (Jaylen) Warren, but Rico (Dowdle) didn’t play. What does he add to their offense, and how important is your run defense against those two guys?

“Versatility. Another really good football player, done it for a number of years, run and pass, and they’re utilizing both those guys. So, again, he’s a powerful runner. I think they’re doing a great job utilizing both of them.”

 

Todd, going back to Dawand, how valuable is all that work you kind of got with him in the summer, when he was competing with Spencer (Fano), kind of getting that look at him getting those first team reps?

“No, there’s no substitution for reps. That’s what we tried to do in the offseason with all of our young players, and I still think he’s a young player, is get as many reps as we can. There’s no substitution for it. Yeah, there’s the mental part of the classroom and the guys, what they do with their bodies in the offseason. But certainly, you’ve got to get on the field, and all the reps that he got are paying off.”

 

Thinking back to his performance to his performance last week again the Titans, that overall, he felt better compared to the Jets game when he came in for Tytus, just because it had been so long since he played in an actual game at that point. Did you guys notice that on film? Did he look different or better?

“I don’t, I don’t know about that. I mean, you’re talking about comparing to the Jets game? Oh, I don’t know how you compare anything to the Jets game. I mean, it’s, none of us were worth a darn. So, it’s, like, coaching, playing. So, comparing it to that, that’s really kind of a tough comparison. So, he has the ability, he has the athletic ability to be what he wants to be. And I did think he played well at times, and there’s things I’m sure he’s going to work to clean up.”

 

Without Mike Hall Jr. having an injury designation, it looks like he’s going to play in this game. So just wondering how he kind of reintegrated into practice this week. How does he look? How do you feel about having him back?

“Feel really good. He tried to go last week, just couldn’t. A lot like Mason (Graham) tried the week before that. So, really excited to have him back in the rotation. Sam (Kamara) did a great job in the three weeks we elevated him, for us up front, so feel like we’ve got really good depth there, and getting Mike back is a real boost.”

 

Coming off the run performance you had in Tennessee, do you think that Mike will be a big help and contributor against the run this week?

“Oh, for sure. I mean, there’s a number of reasons why they had the performance they did against us. Couple of misfits. Ball got out on us a couple of times, but we certainly can be a lot cleaner there with our fits, and Mike helps with that. In terms of disruption.”

 

It seemed like in that Week 4 game against Pittsburgh, and I know he had the sack, but he played well. It seemed like in that game, just overall, how do you think he can with do getting back to that? I know he was injured.

“Right, he played well. That remains to be seen. I mean, he’s been off a few weeks, but what I remember most is him coming back, from being knocked out and then coming back, wanting to be with his teammates and finishing the game. It says a lot that he came back to play. When you consider he’s been out since then, I think that says a lot more about him and how he’s wired.”

 

Todd, philosophically, would you like to be, like, a multiple-personnel group and play a bunch of guys, or are you fine if you have to do it and just change formation maybe? I’m not even talking about this system, just in general.

“I just think in general, the personnel that you have dictates that a little bit. You’ve got to play the players that, the best 11. Not always, because situational football, you know, puts you in a – whether it’s short yardage, goal line, four-minute, where you’re trying to get bigger, or you’ve got to utilize different personnel groups at times. But certainly, you’d like to be multiple. Just like, from a personnel standpoint, you’d like to be multiple, just like from a schematic standpoint, you’d like to be multiple in terms of your run schemes, your pass schemes, that you’re good enough to win a game running it or throwing it, that makes it very hard to defend. You have enough skilled players where they’ve got to defend the field. They can’t cloud and tilt to one side. All that plays in together. And then how we scheme it. But you’d like to be as versatile as you can be, at least I would like to be. Now, if you’re fortunate enough to have players that can do it all, you don’t have to be as versatile. If you get, you know, tight ends that are three-down players and running backs are three-down players, and you get some of your wide outs that are not only elite route runners and can separate, but can go up and get it and be physical in the run game, the more tools they have, the less you have to, you know, rotate guys in and out to maximize their measurable skill set on game day. I kind of tried to say as much as I could in terms of that, but that’s kind of how you play into it a little bit.”

 

I know you’ve said in the past that you like the fact that Jared Verse goes out and he backs up what he says. He’s kind of doubled down on some of his strong talk against the Steelers earlier, calling them dirty. He kind of doubled down on that yesterday. So just wondering, how are you feeling about some of the stuff that Jared is putting out there this week?

“Well, I don’t, I really haven’t seen any of it. I really don’t. I mean, I’ve got a lot of respect for the Steelers and the physical style of play that they play with, and I would hope that we’re trending in that direction to be that kind of team, because I think that carries. I think physicality, mental stamina and that toughness carries, especially as the weather turns. So, I don’t speak for another man. He speaks for himself. I know this: we’re looking forward to playing here in a couple of days. And like I said, I’ve got a lot of respect for the Steelers, and I expect a great environment. And the reason that it’s going to be that great environment is because we’re playing better, right? I mean, you get those environments, the better you play, the better the matchup.

And we’ve earned that by the way we’ve played. And now we’ve just got to go and play.”

 

Why do you think the protection was better against Tennessee? I know it’s a collective thing. Was there something you put your finger on because I think Deshaun (Watson) was only sacked one time?

“Oh, it’s never just one thing. Protection was better. We got the ball out better. We were able to run the ball better. We were ahead of the chains, we schemed guys open a little bit easier than we did the week before, where he was able to – he ended up holding it. Some was him; some was us. It’s never just one thing. I don’t think it was any different in terms of the way our players played, if that makes sense. I didn’t – from one week to the next, it wasn’t like, ‘wow, this player played significantly better’. I just think we did things a lot better collectively offensively, which allowed us to not be as at risk in the long yardage situations and getting the ball out.”

 

How much of a factor is, them coming back, having played in Paris last week, or is the way NFL teams travel and kind of the sports science sort of made that less of a factor than it might have been years ago?

“I really don’t – I don’t know that. Because once the schedule comes out, whether it’s home games, away games, whether you’re overseas, whether you’re playing on a Monday night or a Sunday night or a Thursday, basically you just play the hand you’re dealt and that’s the way it goes. And I’m done trying to figure out pluses and minuses to the short week, to the long week, to the international games. I really am. I mean, back in ’23, we played, I think a Monday night Christmas out in San Francisco three years ago in ’23, and we had to play the Dolphins coming back on a short week. We didn’t get back till, like, six or seven in the morning, and I’ll be darned if we didn’t play our rear ends off the next Sunday. So, I don’t know that. I just know what – all you can do is control what you can control, and that is taking care of your body and your mind and your vision in terms of how you visualize yourself playing. And that’s all you can do to give yourself a chance to play your best football on a given Sunday.”

 

You guys kind of got away with a poor run defense performance last week in a victory. In some ways, can that be almost a silver lining, that it gave you guys a chance to go back and shore up and look at it and get it right heading into this game?

“Sure. I think, as I say, you guys get tired of it, we’re always under construction. And when you’re playing against the best in the world, you’re going to have games where they move the football, whether it’s running it or throwing it. Situational football that comes up, same on the offensive side. There’s going to be times in every sport that comes up. Do you want that to be the norm? Of course not. But there are times where you can have your ace pitcher, and you might have to win 10-8. It just happens that day when you’re playing against the best in the world. And that happened that day. And, again, luckily, situational football-wise, we stopped them on the goal line. All of that being said, we stopped them, forced them one time to kick a field goal. So, all of those things come into play, and we’ll certainly be, as we are all week, constantly working to correct the mistakes.”

 

This team seems to be really good at sort of flushing the bad play, moving on. Because you look at that Tennessee game, seemingly everybody who made a big play late in the game or during that kind of winning play, there’s something you can sort of look back and say, “they didn’t do it”. Like, talk about the defense and, you know, Andre (Szmyt) missing the field goal. You can go on and on. Just what is it about this team and their ability to sort of play the next play, kind of, you know, not dwell on the negative?

“Well, I just think you’re constantly trying to harp on that. And when you’re playing against the best in the world, first of all, even as human beings, no one’s ever going to play perfectly. You’re chasing perfection, but you’re not going to play perfectly. Let’s start with that premise. Everybody’s going to make a mistake. You’re going to make a poor call, you’re going to make mistakes as human beings. Okay, if you’re already starting there, then it doesn’t throw you for a loop that you made a mistake. Like, you should already accept that that’s going to happen. Okay, well, ‘so what? Now what’, right? Okay, ‘what do I do next?’ And if you constantly preach six seconds at a time, every play is independent of the other, the game within the game, and how do you bounce back? I think that’s what we’re constantly trying with our guys. Easier said than done, right? Like all of us as human beings, like when we make mistakes, easier said than done to bounce back from things. But that’s what we’re constantly working on with our guys to understand that. And I think they’ve taken that to heart, that you have to understand you’re in the NFL, you’re going against the best in the world, and you’re going to get beat. You’re going to make mistakes, you’re going to have those moments, and then you just pick your big boy pants up and go back to work and play the next play.”

 

Deshaun Watson coming off of what you’re going to call his most complete game, too. What did you see in him this week? Does it look like, he’s had a confidence booster? Does he look like he was ready to build on that performance?

“I think so. I saw it starting really with the first Pittsburgh game, where I thought he played well. Then we went up in the rain and we didn’t play well. We didn’t coach well, right? We didn’t do things well enough to win. And then the first half against Baltimore, they’re pretty good on defense, and we just could never get anything going. The second half was pretty good. And then last game was, you know, probably his most complete game. And us, complete. I mean, us as a whole offense. So, it’s not just him. He’s a part of that and a big part of that, but I think we’re all a part of that. And how we scheme it and how we practice during the week and our guys executing the plan and coming up with a plan that gives our guys the best chance to be successful. And we’re constantly looking at it every week. What are we doing? How do we do it better? How do we do it better for our players? How can our players execute with the skill sets that they have, the way they work? And each week is another challenge because every defense you go against poses different challenges based on the players you’re going against and what positions. So, it’s always a challenge. And that’s some of the fun and some of the frustrations of being in the NFL. I mean, that’s really the only way to put it, is the fun and the frustration is all there every week based on when you’re going against the best.”

 

And can you share with us your plans for Dillon Gabriel for this go?

“I don’t even… Plans for Dillon Gabriel? I don’t even know yet.”

 

Oh, I’m sorry.

“No, it’s all right. I mean, I haven’t even gone that far ahead yet. I’m really just…”

 

I mean, Shedeur (Sanders) is still, obviously, the second quarterback?

“Yeah. Shedeur’s our backup quarterback.”

 

So, if he’s the backup quarterback, Dillon would be, I don’t know if he would be inactive or the third.

“No. I don’t know if I’m there yet. I really haven’t even thought about it. I was just trying today to get through Friday. Then we’ll figure it out. I knew who our backup was. I know we have four of them. We can choose one of the four to be that. I know who the first two are.”

 

Do have to designate either Taylen (Green) or Dillon as the third?

“No, you’ll have to- that I do know. That we’ll have to do. That part we’ll have to do. I don’t know the other, but I do know we’ll have to designate one of them.”

 

###

 

***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.***