Head Coach Todd Monken (10.9.26)
What’s sort of the outlook or the feeling with both Mason (Graham) and Mike Hall Jr. and now Kalia Davis also being ruled out for this game?
“Well, it’s next man up. I think that’s really what it is. That’s why you have practice squad players and the ability to elevate them, and we’ll make a decision who that’ll be later today.”
Do you think that position group, I mean, at least got a taste of that next man up thing, and putting that into practice, just against the Steelers when the injuries happened in game?
“Sure. I mean, for sure. You got to have roster depth, because this happens to every team in the NFL, really does. It’s a marathon. I mean, heck, 18 weeks, 17 games, one Bye Week, preseason. So, it’s almost half the year. So, it’s going to take everybody on the roster, and that’s why you’re consistently trying to develop those players. So, when they get their number called, the expectation, the position, you’re trying not to let that drop.”
Do you think the plan or approach has to change when you’re missing two of the top three guys?
“I don’t see it that way. I mean, we are who we are. We got to play to our strengths, and obviously not having Mike and not having Mason, but that’s part of it. That’s part of the NFL, and no one cares. We don’t care. It’s those guys got to go play and fight like heck for the Browns.”
What happened with Carsen (Ryan) this week and will you have to make a move at tight end because you only have two now?
“Again, we’re still kind of evaluating what we’re going to do there on offense, but yeah, it doesn’t look like we’ll have him.”
With Kalia, did he re-injure the quad in practice one day this week?
“I’m not going to get into exactly what happened the other day. It doesn’t look like we’re going to have him this week.”
With Adin Huntington, just how have you seen him kind of grow over the course of this year and take strides forward? Obviously, he played a lot as a rookie, but just what’s sort of been the leap for him this year?
“Well, he’s a perfect example of, he was here all offseason, training camp. All he does is work. That’s all he does. He’s explosive as heck. I mean, he really is just a little bit undersized, that’s just the way it is. But in terms of work ethic, I cannot remember a day since I’ve been here that he was not here or wasn’t available. And you’re going to continue to grow as a player when you do that, his ability to be available and to work every single day. You can just see it, and you can see his confidence grow in that. When you get those reps against your first team offensive line and be productive, be as productive as he’s been.”
How has Quincy (Williams) been coming along for you week-by-week? And with this being sort of a special game for him, might you make him captain or anything like that?
“I know it’s a special game for him, but these are all special. I mean, every game played in the NFL is special. So, you’d have to ask him in terms of where it ranks for him, but for me, it’s just another one, try and take another step forward in terms of our execution and the way we play.”
And how’s he been? It seems like in the past few weeks he’s sort of really starting to pop and play up his capabilities.
“I think he’s played better. I do. I think he’s gotten comfortable with what we’re asking him to do. You can see his speed showing up on the field. And again, I think you would expect that with all of our players, and he happens to be one of them.”
Quinshon (Judkins), obviously we know his running ability, but he’s become a very valuable piece of the passing game. Can you talk about the work he’s done to improve as a receiver and what he’s meant in the last couple of weeks? Sort of being a safety valve of sorts for Deshaun (Watson) to go to.
“Sure. He’s a bull out in space. I mean, that’s what we talk about. Him and Harold (Fannin Jr.) are similar. Their ability, once you get them out in space, when you’re fighting for yards, I mean, those guys are hard to bring down. They’ve got great contact balance. And when you talk about where teams are going to more and more of these zone looks, their ability to puncture and take a check down, and instead of getting three or four, getting seven, eight, nine, ten. And you see that out of both of them. Quinshon has really improved his hands, and again, he’s still a young player that’s developing.”
What do you remember about your experience going through the coaching search with the Jets in 2019, obviously, before you ended up here?
“Man, we’re going the way-back machine, all the way to ‘19. Well, first off, I was jacked. I mean, who isn’t excited to be interviewed? First of all, let’s just say any position with any NFL organization, I don’t care what it is, to be at the highest level of your work, of what we do, all of us. So, I really enjoyed any of the interviews that I’ve had. And back then, that was before COVID, so we were more in person. Right. You didn’t have the initial Zoom. And so, I mean, I really enjoyed it. Didn’t work out. Didn’t work out that time. Right. And so again, every organization can just pick one. That’s all you can do. Right. I’ve never looked at it any other way, and I never looked at myself any differently. Someone told me this a while ago, and I’m very humble, so please don’t take this the wrong way. Actually, someone from the Jets organization told me this, now that I’m going to mention it. It was one of the guys that were in the interview process, and he said, ‘don’t ever forget that you’re a Mercedes. When you look in the mirror, you can’t control if they want a Lexus. It doesn’t matter how good a Mercedes you are, if they want a Mercedes or if they want, I don’t know which way I said it, but the other one. If they want the other car, you got me all effed up there. But if they want the other, there’s nothing you can do about it. Right?’ That doesn’t mean you’re not capable. It’s like all of us. When you go through interviews, you go through certain stages, and you’re like, you know what? There are things I certainly could have improved, interview and all those things. But ultimately, they chose a different model, and that was their choice. And I’ve been very lucky throughout my career to have a lot of really good jobs and be around a lot of really good coaches and great players, and that have helped me get a lot better as I’ve grown as a coach, and I really appreciated them interviewing me.”
When you have a game like this one that is sandwiched between two division games, even though you guys have played in two big division games, do you have to take any extra precaution as a head coach, in just preaching that keep your feet on the ground mentality week-to-week this league, or is it something you don’t have to think about, really?
“I think that’s part of it. Right. I don’t care what level you’re at. Right. We’re all human. We want to be appreciated. We want to be a part of a winning culture. We want to win. And there’s no doubt that our players, after having those days off, I mean, who doesn’t want to be told, man, it’s pretty cool at that time to be a Cleveland Brown? Right. So, it’s human nature, but that is our job, is to bring us back down to earth. We’ve won three games and that doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s a nice start, but obviously our direct focus has to be an improvement as coaches and as players. And if we do that, then the results will take care of itself, and we’ll be happy with the product we put on the field, as long as we keep the main thing the main thing, and that is taking care of our mind, our body and our belief. And those three things will allow you to play fast. If you study the plan, if you take care of your body leading up to the game, and if your belief system’s at a high level and a belief in each other, then we can play fast. And our guys have shown that. And as long as we continue down that path, like I said, we’ll give ourselves more than ample opportunity to win games.”
I know you said every game’s special. Going back to Quincy, even after Steelers game, he said he was already thinking about the Jets. But do you see, in those different matchups, it motivates certain guys in different ways whether it be revenge or the former team aspect of it?
“Well, I talked to the team a little bit this week about all the different levels of motivation. That we all have the positive end of things and the negative end of it. Right? Like any job, if you just started off by, I move this way because I want to make X amount of money and I want to be promoted, I get motivated this way because I’m afraid of being fired and not having a frickin job. Okay? So, there’s the two ends of the needles, just starting with that. But we all have to find our ways to be motivated of what we want out of careers, out of relationships, what we want. And we decide that on an everyday basis. You try to tell the guys, ‘how would you prep this week if you were playing the Super Bowl on Sunday?’ I mean, how would it be if it was the last game you ever played? Right? What if it was the only time your grandma or grandpa got a chance to see you play? How would you prep? And we all have to find those tools that motivate us. I find that they all work. There is not one angle. It’s finding what works for you that allows you to keep working to achieve everything you want out of life, relationship-wise, job-wise, whatever you want. That motivation isn’t easy. It’s easy to settle.
And so that has been a message for our guys in terms of what motivates you each and every day to be the best player you can be. And ultimately, if you were to be the best player you could be, then we’ll see that on the field. We will see the results on the field collectively.”
It’s unclear which direction it’s heading, but a hurricane is potentially coming to New York, how much does that factor into the game plan and what you’re thinking for this Sunday?
“It’s kind of weird to say that. The hurricane in New York, it just kind of feels weird that that even gets said. I don’t know, rain, a little bit of wind, I mean, what are you going to do? Spot the ball, let’s go play. It’s the way it is. And all we can control is what we do the next 48 hours, we’ve worked on wet ball. We’ve worked as if, even in training camp, you try to get out there when it’s raining to get used to it, and then you got to go play and you have got to function on the road, and just the way it is. But it is weird to say hurricane, New York. It’s kind of a little different.”
I know it’s just three games, but have you been surprised with the mental fortitude of this young team, not only winning these games, but the way in which they’re winning these games?
“No, I was surprised the first week. That’s what surprised me the most. That’s what was the most disappointing, coaching and playing, that probably, as much as anything. I saw the resolve, I saw our work. And I’m not saying we were perfect, but for sure we weren’t perfect in terms of certain things that we need to clean up individually and then collectively. But I was more surprised the first week, just the way we played, the way we coached, more than the last three weeks. And so just by what I saw every day and the way our guys worked and the way they approach the day-to-day rigors of being an NFL football player. And so that was more surprising than the last three weeks.”
One more job interview question, do you put the F-bomb away, or do you let it fly?
“What’s that? I’m usually pretty good at that. Really, to be honest, I mean, I’m usually pretty good at keeping the main thing the main thing, without swearing, usually. Peter can attest to that. Usually most radio deals, mostly with you guys, I don’t, unless I get a little fired up. Sadly, my parents aren’t still alive, but I’d get calls from Mom and Dad, and there was this thing we did at Oklahoma State that was the year of the quarterback. And I think they bleeped me out like half of it. And that’s what my mom said they couldn’t even watch it, you got bleeped out all the time. And I don’t know, I wish I didn’t have such a potty mouth. I wish I had a better way of expressing myself, but sometimes it needs that emphasis.”
On Mike Ditka passing away, did you know him at all, as an up-and-coming coach back then? Did he have any influence on you?
“Well, he did, because I grew up a Packers fan and he was a Bears head coach, so that was a little disappointing. But who doesn’t like Mike Ditka? I mean, right? As a player, as a coach, as an actor. H—, Kicking and Screaming, right? He was the neighbor. I mean, shoot. I mean, you talk about a lot of different…I found him intense. I found him funny. I found him being himself. Right? Who doesn’t? Everybody else is taken. Harbs (John Harbaugh) used to say that, man, just be yourself. Everybody else is taken. Why would you want to be somebody else? And Mike Ditka was one of a kind in that way, being himself and what he believed in, and he fit. Sometimes people fit, and he fit in Chicago, if you’re looking for a coach that fits, that’s in a blue-collar city, that’s Mike Ditka, and what he believed in. And it’s a sad day for the NFL and a sad day for the Ditka family.”
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