Head Coach Todd Monken (8.24.26)
So, the word is out with Deshaun (Watson). Explain your decision.
“Deshaun is going to start against Jacksonville. Took in the full body of work over the course of offseason, to training camp, to the games, the joint practice, and ultimately felt like to start the season on the road, Deshaun gave us the best chance to move the ball and score points. I mean, that’s really what it’s about. And felt that way going into the last game but wasn’t sure. And after we talked as a staff and after we relooked at everything, we’re going to go in that direction.”
Is this a week-by-week thing?
“No, we’re not anticipating this being a week-to-week thing. Again, I think Shedeur (Sanders) has done a great job, come a long ways, and we’re excited about his future, but this is not a week-to-week decision.”
Was it hard making that decision between Watson and Sanders?
“For sure. I mean, any decision where it’s so close, right? Both guys competing their rear ends off, and it is a hard decision, right? I mean, it’s not a hard decision to start Jared Verse at defensive end, right? That’s easy, right? But that’s what we’re paid to do; try to put the best players on the field. They give us the best chance to score points and move the ball.”
Todd, is this a decision that feels like maybe you’re flexible with changing if things don’t go the way you anticipate early?
“I don’t anticipate that being the case, but that’s what we do. That question is not a quarterback question, it is everybody’s position, right? Every single week we have to prove it. That’s what we do. As pros, we have to prove it every week. It doesn’t matter what position. Ultimately, we expect him to play well, or we wouldn’t be starting him.”
Is there something that Deshaun did specifically to separate himself from Shedeur?
“I wouldn’t say anything specific. I would not say that. Again, just on the road, operation and our ability to function. And again, it was close. I mean, like I said, I feel really good about both quarterbacks. I do.”
If it’s that close, Todd, there’s a line of thinking that says why not go with the younger guy who might have a brighter future? So, what kept Shedeur from getting this job? Did it come down to the operation?
“Some of it was that. There’s a number of things I’m not going to get into, but ultimately, we felt over the course of training camp and the offseason that he was ahead of Shedeur. Shedeur has closed that gap, for sure, and that’s a credit to him, and we look forward to Shedeur continuing to grow as a player. But ultimately, we’re about week one. That’s all it’s about; week one, putting our best foot forward over the next three weeks. As I said the other day, we’re only halfway through training camp, still have this week, got next week, got the whole game prep for Jacksonville. We really haven’t game-planned anybody in the preseason, so our ability to game plan and get ready for Jacksonville; I’m looking forward to it.”
When you talk about being on the road, do you mean the challenges a road game presents?
“100%.”
Or being away from the home fans?
“No, I mean the challenges of being on the road. I’m just worried about the first game. It’s really about being on the road, operation silent cadence, right? Opening the season, it just felt like that was the right way to go. And that wasn’t the only criteria, it was just a piece of it.”
Todd, no one really seemed to run away with this quarterback competition, it just felt uneven throughout. For those who don’t understand the football decision to start Deshaun, what are they missing that you see that those folks aren’t seeing?
“Well, again, it’s the day-to-day. What they’re not seeing is the film. They’re not in our building, so they’re not going to know what we know. Now, you can see with your own eyes, right? You can forecast what you expect it to be. A number of those people weren’t even in practice. So, I don’t really concern myself with what they really think. I know what we think and what we see every day in our building, with our players, and the momentum we have and we’re 100% behind Deshaun.”
How much did you take into account the fact that the fan base really isn’t in Deshaun’s corner and seems to love Shedeur? Did that come up in the discussions at all?
“Absolutely not. Zero. There was nothing to do with that. Ultimately, the fans want us to win. Ultimately, to put a good product on the field. That’s really what they want. And that’s our job as coaches, why we’re hired — to try to put the best product on the field. And when we don’t, then I understand their frustration. But ultimately, they don’t decide who plays. I mean, who would I be if I let someone outside of the building decide who plays?”
You said Deshaun’s press conference from Saturday wasn’t going to factor into the decision, and you’ve talked about how important mental toughness is at quarterback. Looking at the entire body of work, what makes you confident that he has that part of it right now?
“Well, I said yesterday, he bleeds like we bleed. 22 months of working to get back, giving himself another opportunity for the Browns. So that I respect. Was he hurt? Yes. But I also said yesterday, I don’t like being booed either. I don’t like it when we jump offsides three times at the end of the game. But we earned that, right? We earn our respect by how we play. We earn our fans’ appreciation of the product we put on the field, and that’s our job. So, on one side, I one hundred percent understand where Deshaun is coming from, but ultimately, we’re pros, we’ve got to put on a good product, and we’ve got to play. Have to pull your big boy pants up, and let’s go play.”
You talked about how Shedeur has gotten better as the offseason has gone on. What was the conversation like with him about the decision, and what was your message to him?
“He was awesome. I mean, you talk about somebody that really understands the long game. That really, I think, has come to understand the long game. What are we really in this for? What am I in it for? To have the Browns be an organization that people aspire to be, right? The long game, right? Where do we want to be in the long term? He understands that as well as a quarterback. Where he was at, where he’s at now, where he wants to get to. That is what’s so awesome about Shedeur understanding that. Really, he does. We met this morning for a good long time, and all he had was a smile on his face because he understands what’s really in front of him, not really a short-term, more of a long-term decision. I mean, this is a player who’s going to work his butt off to get better, and he already has.”
Did you inform the quarterbacks privately or as a team?
“Privately. I met with Deshaun, and then I met with Shedeur.”
Did you then address the team?
“I did not.”
Just with Shedeur, obviously Deshaun’s going to get the lion’s share of the practice reps as you work toward the season. How do you work to get Shedeur reps in practice so he can continue his own development?
“That’s a great point. We do have…this week we have a couple of days, we have a few days next week where we’re still Browns on Browns, and then we’ll turn our focus the back end of next week and the following week on Jacksonville. So, we still have reps where we’re running our offense. That’s where he’ll get the development. The hardest part, you’re exactly right, is once we get into game week, Deshaun takes all the ones. So, he’s going to have to do a great job with individual, film study, and then when he gets opportunities to go against the defense, again, people run a lot of the same concepts, right? They run four-verts, they run curl-flat, they run flood concepts. That’s no different than what we run. So how are you going to play that out in your mind? What is that on the card that is exactly what we do and then process it and play it out like it’s a real practice.”
Looking back on Saturday, Deshaun Watson was asked, in relation to the response he got from the fans, if he can defeat the negativity, and he said, ‘I don’t know.’ When you met with him, did you guys talk about that?
“We did. I’ll keep most of what we talked about private. But the conversation was, the way we make this go away is to play good football. We’ve got to own that. If you think – I asked him, ‘do you feel like you got that off your chest?’ Because you’ve got to feel like you got that off your chest, right? And now what do we do? Let’s move forward and work our rear ends off playing winning football. That’s it. You guys will get a chance to talk to him. And again, it was in the moment. We all have those moments. And we’re going to see moving forward. I have gotten no indication over the six months that I’ve been here that he doesn’t have the ability to bounce back as a player and compete at a high level. I have no indication of that.”
When we talk about Shedeur Sanders coming up the learning curve, figuring out cadences, getting in and out of the huddle, sometimes people misinterpret that as saying he doesn’t have the capacity to learn all that stuff. What do you say about how far he’s come, or his ability to learn and pick all that up?
“Well, that’s not true. It’s just about understanding how important it is to the collective group, the other ten. He is the epicenter of our communication, then the center is. So, the understanding of, they’re all listening to you, right? Being crisp, concise, on point. Once you get into the huddle: I’ve got this, I’m in charge. That’s on us as coaches; how do we get that out of players? Anything that we do, whether it’s a quarterback or another player, it’s our job as coaches to maximize their measurable skill set. That is a ‘we’ thing, not a ‘me’ thing, not an individual thing, so we’re all in that together. He is certainly more than capable of that. And I saw today, he was even better.”
Now that you’ve settled on this quarterback decision, how much effort has to go into turning four quarterbacks into three for the roster?
“We’re going to get a chance to see it Thursday night. I’m excited for Dillon (Gabriel) and seeing Taylen (Green). We went through the first couple of games, the way we went about it, Taylen did a great job over the course of time with limited reps and going against the Bills, really executing our offense at a high level. So, I’m excited to get him out there and see him play.”
Neither Deshaun nor Shedeur will play Thursday night?
“They will not play Thursday night. Neither one of them.”
Did you have a change of heart if you were going to play the starters? Early in the preseason or training camp, it felt like you were going to play the starters.
“I did. I talked to Coach (Mike) Vrabel, we had talked about initially wanting to play our starters and get them a series or two. They really hadn’t played their guys. But we both felt like we were thin, especially up front on both sides of the ball, and we just felt like we’d be better off not playing our starters in the game Thursday night.”
You said it was your decision yesterday that you were making the decision. But did you consult at all with Andrew Berry or anyone in the front office, or did you just inform them this morning that this was the decision?
“Well, I think any major decision is an organizational decision. Ultimately, I have to make that call. I guess if you said the decision on trades, or free agents that we bring in, or contracts, ultimately, Andrew would have to make that decision. But those are organizational decisions, that’s the way it runs. We talked about it. We had conversations about it, and we landed on this.”
Is there enough time in the preseason for Maliek Collins to be ready for game one?
“Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I saw it when he first showed up. He was doing box jumps. I was like, he’s ready now, for God’s sakes. I was kind of bummed he wasn’t out there for three weeks. He looks great, holy cow. Impressive, for the injury that he had, and his work in the offseason. At his age, as a vet, it says a lot about him, how much he loves football, how much he loves the Browns and his teammates. Awesome.”
Do you expect Quinshon (Judkins) back on the field today or tomorrow?
“If not, it’ll be shortly. It’s just something that’s a little bit nagging. If we do, we’ll get him out there. If he doesn’t practice, he’ll probably do some individual today. I’m hopeful he’ll do some of that.”
What about (Carson) Schwesinger?
“Schwesinger. Moving forward. I think we’ll see some of him today. To what extent, I don’t know. He was in the walkthrough today, which is a good sign.”
Now that this thing is wrapped up, how confident do you feel that Deshaun can get all the reps he needs with this starting eleven to be fully ready to go?
“I feel very confident.”
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