Head Coach Todd Monken (8.29.26)
Obviously every day is an evaluation, but how much does a day like today weigh in on terms of final decisions?
“Some, but not much. I mean, at this point, your body of work is what it is. We just want to get a good practice in today.”
Do you expect Joe Royer to play for the team this year?
“I’m not going to comment on that.”
We talked to Carson (Schwesinger) before, what was the issue that kept him out for that three-week stretch?
“Again, that’s medical. I really don’t want to speak to anything medically.”
He was saying he was ready to go and feels back. How comforting is it to have him back with some time before week one to regain his footing?
“That was the plan. That was the plan with what he was dealing with, ‘Hey, let’s take it slow with it and then just get you back with a couple weeks before we play.’”
You guys played Carson early in the year last year and then again later in the year. What did you see from him game planning for him and just watching him?
“He just kind of grows on you. The way he plays the game, the way he sees it, he’s decisive. Once he pulls the trigger, he goes. He’s just a fantastic athlete, who does a great job during the week, of anticipating what you’re going to do offensively. And this defense, I think, fits him like a glove. Allows him to run and hit.”
On a day like today, obviously you have a lot of your decisions made, but there are some difficult ones, too. What is your approach as you’re wrapping up and making final decisions on how guys leave this building?
“Well, I said it after the game. I have a lot of respect for NFL players, especially during training camp. When you walk in the door every day, you’re competing for a job. The majority of your players, yeah, there’s certain players that are going to be here, but the rest of them have to compete every day. So, it is hard. It is hard to make those decisions and to let guys go, but it’s the nature of the beast. We can’t keep everybody. And I’ve been really proud of the way our guys have practiced from the moment I got here and the way they’ve worked.”
What have you learned most about your team since the start, even the offseason to this point?
“Oh, I’ve said it lots of times. Our guys are a fun group to be around. They are a fun group to be around personality-wise, right, as people. But more importantly, it’s how they work. You rarely have to say anything to the guys. You just say it to them once and then they respond, which makes it fun to be around every day.”
There’s a few guys, like Mike Burton, who haven’t had a lot of practice time or a game. How much of weighing those roster statuses? Is it just projection?
There’s a few guys, like Mike Burton, who haven’t had a lot of practice time or a game. How much of weighing those roster statuses is just projection?
“Some of it. We had Mike for a couple practices last week. He got in there a little bit and he just picked up where he left off. I mean, a guy that’s played fullback for his whole career has gotten this far along. It was as if he never missed a day. It was really, really fun to watch.”
From a veteran player, you can give a little more…??
“I think so. I think that’s exactly right. Guys that you’ve seen before and then you just get them back on the field, it’s a little easier because you’ve already seen it. That’s a good point, yes.”
When you watched the film of Dillon (Gabriel) and Taylen (Green) after that game, did you come away from it, I’m sure that you and Andrew (Berry) have to have a healthy debate over this, did you come away knowing what you would want to do in that situation, or are you still grappling with it? How’s this going to turn out?
“Somewhat. Like a lot of players, we don’t want to lose any good players that have a future with the Browns, so we’ve still got some discussions to have. But I was very impressed with both Dillon and Taylen. Both did it differently, but Dillon’s at least played. He’s played last year, he’s gotten more reps than Taylen, so he looked like it, and he obviously operated very well. Taylen did the things we thought he would do, which was make some plays with his feet, and there were no issues in terms of the operation. The issues we had were a bobbled snap on a fly sweep that we almost lost, and then a fumbled snap, and that was really with Dillon. Outside of that, our operation was really clean with those guys, so that’s what you’re looking for.”
In the week leading up to the season opener, are you a coach that likes to start working on Jacksonville immediately, or do you wait until that week arrives?
“Early in the week will be a little bit more of us versus us. As we get to the middle and back end of the week, there’ll be more and more Jacksonville. By the last day, by Thursday, it’ll be all Jacksonville.”
What have you thought of Austin Barber in these last two weeks playing right guard?
“What a great job he’s done playing, starting at tackle, then going to guard. I think he’s only going to continue to get better, so I’ve been very pleased with him. He takes coaching. There was a screen that we ran during the game that, the week before, when it got caught, he was a little bit casual down the field on, not accelerating his feet, and you saw it in the game the other night. He accelerated and ran through the defender to get out of the way of the defender and did a great job. He certainly takes coaching from the meeting room, from his past experiences to the field.”
You said (KT) Leveston looks better at tackle than he did at guard.
“He does.”
Does Barber look better at guard than tackle? Can you make any observation about that?
Does (Tytus) Howard look better at guard than tackle? Can you make any observation about that?
“I don’t know if he looks better there, I would just say we were pleasantly surprised once we moved him there that he didn’t look out of place. So, that part of it, I wouldn’t know if he looked better, but he certainly looked very capable.”
Is that position settled with Teven (Jenkins), or could Austin still make a push there?
“I love our depth there. Again, I think Teven has the advantage, obviously, as the veteran player, but we still have this week, we still have today and a few practices to really finalize. I’d give Teven the lean, but I don’t think it’s done yet.”
When you look at corner and tight end those feel like a couple of spots where you’ve dealt with a bunch of injuries and could be depth concerns. Are those spots that could continue to change even after Sunday? You could have some new guys coming in or will need some new guys perhaps coming in?
“I think it’s possible. I don’t think there’s any position on your team, minus a few, that you’re not always looking to upgrade. Should a player become available, that gives you an opportunity to upgrade your roster.”
With a veteran like Derek (Barnett) who comes in late, what’s the process of getting him acclimated and up to speed to where you feel comfortable putting him out there and playing?
“Well, again, he’s played in this style of defense, so it’s not that big of a transition. It’s really not. It’s really just getting used to what we call things, our terminology, and then just seeing what we have. We haven’t been around Derek, and I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far.”
Have you and the defensive coaches made a decision on Michael Hall (Jr.) going forward at end or tackle?
Have you and the defensive coaches made a decision on Michael Hall (Jr.) going forward, and at tackle?
“Have not. I think he’s shown that he can be a versatile player. I do think he’s more disruptive inside, so I do think that. We’ve seen that on tape. I think that would probably be at this point. We still have another week to go through would be the starting point with some defensive end flex.”
You mentioned the O-line, have you seen, that group of five that has practiced more and more, can you see the chemistry building and that they’re taking the steps they need to take before the season?
“Sure. I think the more that they work together, communicate together, and run the same concepts and schemes, I think you’re just going to continue to see them grow.”
When you weigh whether to go with (Austin) Barber or (Teven) Jenkins there, do you think about the fact that it would give you two rookies starting on the line, or do you just take each guy on his own merit?
“It’s really just trying to put the best five out there. At some point you’re like, ‘well, would it be ideal to have 11 rookies starting? Of course not.’ But ultimately our job is to put the best 11 out there, whether it’s a rookie or a vet. If that turns out to be Austin, then great. If it’s Teven, then great.”
Going back to Thursday night, you had Kingsley (Eguakun) go in first with both quarterbacks and then Luke (Wypler) came in. What was the thinking behind the center rotation?
“Just giving them opportunities with each quarterback, whether one starts or one plays in the second quarter. Some of it is you’re also getting into possible two-minute scenarios, which are only going to come up in the second or fourth quarter, that you want to see maybe with different players at every position. So, it really wasn’t anything other than we had planned on dividing up the reps with those guys.”
Games are really the only way to evaluate special teams since you can’t go full speed in practice. What are your observations on what your special teams coordinator has done so far?
“Well, first, I can go by how we practice and the time we utilize in terms of our drill work, and what I see. And I’ve been highly impressed with our coaching and the work we’ve put in. It’s shown up on tape, which is what you want to see from your coaching. The drills you’re doing have to show up on tape, or you’re doing the wrong drills? Everybody says that, and it’s true. What are we doing? And then once it isn’t where we want it to be, how do we fight like hell to fix it and drill it differently, so our guys really understand? I’ve seen that carry over in all phases, so I’m excited about that. And you’re right, we really won’t know in all the phases until we start playing meaningful games, but I’ve been impressed so far at whoever’s been out there and their execution.”
Do you have any concerns using KC Concepcion as a punt returner? He’s looked so good in the (Chicago) Bears game, given he’s spent a lot of time at receiver.
“To me, I look at punt return as an opportunity for an explosive, in terms of changing field position, so you do have to balance the risk of that. Sure, but to me, I look at punt return as an opportunity for an explosive, in terms of changing field position, so you do have to balance that. You still have to balance the risk of that. But at this point, it makes too much sense for us to use him in every way we can as a weapon, and that’s one of those.”
With Joe Royer not being here, does it change your philosophy in terms of more 11 personnel less 12, or were you going to do what you were going to do anyway?
“It’s hard to say, it has nothing to do with Joe. Joe hasn’t been with us really all of training camp, so it really has to do with who’s in the room as much as anything. Would we feel as comfortable in 21 personnel without Mike? Now that Mike’s back, how would we feel? We don’t know how the roster is going to look offensively here in two or three days. Who do we have, what are the pieces that we have? I’ve been really impressed with Harold (Fannin Jr.) and his diligence in becoming a better blocker, along with Blake (Whiteheart). I’ve seen some guys really took a step forward in terms of the point of attack and also as a C-gap blocker. We’ll see where we’re at as we move further in the next couple days, but I feel pretty good about our ability to use all the personnel groupings that we have.”
# # #
***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.***