Head Coach Todd Monken (6.9.26)
Mason (Graham) in the walking boot. What happened and do you have a timetable?
“I don’t really comment on injuries. I’ll just say this, I don’t see anybody – we’ve got two practices left – that won’t be ready for training camp. I’ll just leave it at that with our roster. The rest of it, I won’t speak to the injuries.”
That includes Maliek (Collins)?
“Oh, I don’t know. We’ll see with that one. I’ll take that one off – besides him.”
Denzel Ward was in on some seven on seven, but (Grant) Delpit didn’t do anything. Is that an injury or a hold-in situation?
“Again, I won’t comment on injuries.”
So, it is an injury?
“I’m just saying I won’t comment on injuries.”
Can you address the nice day that Shedeur (Sanders) had out there? He made a lot of really nice plays, how did you feel about his day?
“He did a nice job today. He’s been getting better and better with each practice day. And I thought Deshaun (Watson) did some good things today. I thought they both functioned at a high level. We had a couple pre-snap issues, but I thought they both functioned at a high level today.”
Will we see a different rotation when they practice tomorrow?
“Tomorrow, yes. It will flip back tomorrow and then on Thursday we’ll split them. That’s really what we’ve been trying to do.”
Overall how would you assess the first day of your relatively full squad minicamp?
“Oh, it was great. But really, we’ve had most of the guys here for nine weeks so we’ve been on the field three weeks previous. So, it was really similar to that. I thought the guys had great juice today.”
Todd, there were a couple of drills where the quarterbacks had the ball post six seconds. Is that you’re intentionally wanting them to work on scramble or holding the ball, moving?
“100%. We won’t call pass play more than scramble. It’s gonna come up five or six times a game. I don’t care what other concepts – four verts, flood concepts, quick game. With all these two-play quarterbacks it’s gonna be imperative that we’re elite at scramble and defensively we’re elite at plastering and so that whole drill is just set up for us to work it. You can work it separate. You get your coaches out there working on it but it’s not the same until you get a chance to compete with your guys.”
What about the chance to get Jared Verse out there in the team drills this week and what you saw from him out there?
“I was great to have him out there. It’s hard when you’re not in pads. Guys try to take care of each other, which they did a great job of. But he’s a pro.”
I know you didn’t get the chance to actually coach Joel Bitonio, well you did in 2019, but you’ve seen him from afar a lot. Can you talk about the career that he had?
“Well, first off, you’ve read all about it – you saw it, forget that, read about s***. 12 years, 178 starts, seven Pro Bowls, five All Pros. He’s one of the rare guys that ended his career with everything his body could give. I still think deep down he loves football and he would love to play but his body just won’t allow him to do it. And to continue to play at such a high level is awesome for a guy who’s hopefully going to end up with a gold jacket. He’s certainly going to be in our stadium and he’s gonna have his picture up in our indoor (field). If that doesn’t say it, I don’t know what else does. From afar, I was only here for one year but it always felt like Joel said the right thing. When you talk about team and owning it, supporting his 20 teammates and his coaches and the organization, A+. When you talk about – remember the game when I was at Baltimore last year and there was a turnover and you see Joel chasing down the sideline, full speed. I mean, special. I think that’s the word for him is special.”
As you sort of overtake a young team, does Joel kind of represent in a lot of ways like standard of what you kind of want your team to sort of play with that energy all that and how do you sort of instill that with him not here?
“I hadn’t thought of it that way but I think that’s a great way of phrasing it, for sure. I think that guy maximized his measurable skill set. Whatever that was, he got the most out of it and I think we should aspire to – we got a lot of guys like that. Especially when you talk about some of the DBs between Tre (Avery) and D (D’Angelo) Ross, Myles (Harden) – guys that undervalued but have carved out a great career. Joel is certainly someone to look at and say, ‘that’s what it looks like to be a pro.’”
Todd, you weren’t here when Isaiah Bond joined the team. He didn’t have a training camp, he looks like he got a little bit bigger. What can you say about Bond’s spring?
“Really come along. Early on, getting his feet underneath himself and learning the offense. But he’s certainly put himself in position to make plays down the field. Everybody knows about his speed. I think what’s undervalued is his balance and body control. I think he gets in and out of his breaks and is able to keep his speed and it’s been fun to watch. He’s going to continue to take steps with the way he practices.”
We saw KT Leveston I think at right guard today. Does he have a lot of experience at right guard or why did you decide to give him a chance there?
“We’re just trying to move guys around a little bit to see where we can find the best five. We do like his power and his toughness, from what we’ve seen from last year, obviously we don’t see it here. Last year when he got a chance to play, you could see that running off the football, his aggressiveness, finishing plays, you love that about him. Those kinds of guys you’re always trying to find a spot for.”
You have (Jack) Conley, Teven Jenkins. Is that right guard spot a competitive position for training camp?
“Oh yeah. I think we’re trying to find the best five. I said it the other day and we’ll just keep moving guys around. It’s hard now without pads on.”
Todd, watching Quinshon (Judkins) these past few weeks it looks like there’s no hesitation there. He’s going very hard. How important is that with a young player coming off an injury?
“It feels like he’s got his confidence back, his explosion. We’ll just see when he gets the pads on but looks good.”
Do you love how the quarterbacks have worked so hard, competed so hard and made this decision so difficult for you?
“First of all, it’s been great to watch them progress. The sad part is in two days they go away for five or six weeks. That’s what sucks because you just start to get a little bit of momentum. You’re stacking plays. You’re seeing some things you really like. We’ve got to do a great job as a staff when they get back picking up where they left off. But it’s been fun to watch those guys compete, the whole room. They’re really smart guys. Highly competitive and they’ve come a long way. I’m excited about the room.”
When you said you’re going to continue the quarterback reps throughout the week and
split them the last day, does that mean you won’t be able to name a number one?
“I really don’t know. I’m not going to name a number one, so that I am not going to name. Chances are that’s not – I shouldn’t say that – chances are I will not. Now, once we get to the fall we’ll have to dissect the reps how we see fit. I just don’t see it after the way Shedeur’s played and Deshaun’s played. They both played well enough to earn the right to compete to start.”
Joel was the longest tenured Browns player for a long time, now it’s Denzel Ward. How valuable is Denzel for just not what he does on the field but veteran leadership?
“Well for sure. He’s had a heck of a career and it’s not with over yet. We’ll see how that goes down the road but Denzel was here when I was here in ’19 and he’s done a really nice job. I still think he has a number of years left.”
Just to follow up on those quarterbacks. When we first talked to you, I believe that you said you hoped to have your starter by the beginning of training camp. So has someone shown you more that you’re not ready to make that decision?
“Well, I would have hoped that, but I like both of them. I don’t know what to say, it’s really as simple as that. I like both of them and we haven’t had the pads on. That’s the hardest thing. As much as I’d love to make that decision, either by someone separating themselves upwards or downwards either way, which has not occurred. And we haven’t even gotten to practicing against an opponent, putting the pads on, having a controlled scrimmage or playing preseason games. I would have loved to. I was being honest. I think you would love to have the starter named, I just can’t do it. I’m not there yet. That’s the reality of it.”
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