Head Coach Todd Monken (8.5.26)
We saw Sam (Kamara) driven off on a cart. Do you know if he’ll need surgery?
“I do not know that.”
There was a report on NFL Network last night that you’re going to give Deshaun (Watson) and Shedeur (Sanders) each a start in the first two preseason games.
“Cam (Cameron Wolfe) took little liberties with what our conversation was like. Basically, we talked about the quarterbacks playing in the preseason, and obviously, if it’s still a competition at that time, why wouldn’t you start one and then start the other and we would go from there. That’s really what the conversation was. He wasn’t wrong in what we talked about, which, you’ve all known they’re going to play in the preseason. Someone has to go out there for the first snap; thus, they would be the one who starts. But at this point we’re so far from that, it’s not as important as it was made out to be.”
If you don’t name a starter before the Buffalo scrimmage, is it just the natural rotation, whoever’s up that day? And does that rotation continue from there?
“Yep, that’ll be what it is. We’ll just have the natural rotation on that given day.”
And will that rotation continue until you name one?
“It’ll continue until we decide and we really narrow the band a little in terms of where we’re at.”
Do you take into account who you’d like to see start at home in front of the home crowd versus on the road for those first two games?
“Not really, but I do get that it could be a little more difficult on the road. I do get that. I really haven’t thought that far ahead, to be honest. I really haven’t. I’m thinking about today. I realized this morning that today Deshaun was with the ones. It’ll be the other way tomorrow, and we’ll just keep going from there.”
When you and the other coaches meet, do you talk about who’s ahead, who’s doing well in the quarterback competition, or is that not really the conversation?
“For sure. I think to say who’s ahead is a little extreme. But we evaluate every day where our roster is, who’s where. We try not to knee-jerk react on the one day, that’s hard to do. We want every day to go as smooth as it can, and it doesn’t, so you have to fight that part of it. We also have to fight, we’re in install. We see what you see, and we see a little more in-depth because of the film. But the reality is we’re always talking about personnel and the roster; the quarterbacks just happen to be part of that.”
Todd, tomorrow’s the last day of install period. As far as the depth chart and reps, do you expect changes on Friday, or does that start next week heading into the preseason?
“That’s possible. I haven’t gotten that far ahead, I really haven’t. Tomorrow’s another install, we’ll rotate where the quarterbacks are in terms of where they started. Like all positions, it’s always influx. Do I think that – to answer part of that question: come Monday, after we’ve had ten practices, where are we at, where do we see the pieces? Left tackle, who’s going to be what spot at receiver, what gives us the best chance to move the football, right guard…let’s start to, if we can, you’d like to start to establish where you think you’re at, at that moment.”
You had 13 guys out yesterday. Is that just a natural evolution of camp taking its toll?
“I think it is. It’s unfortunate because we’ve got some positions where we really haven’t had much attrition, and others where it just seems like you’re hit hard. It’s interesting. At receiver we’ve been fine for the most part; where usually they’re the ones who go down, they’re the ones who are running, and you have to have 12 bodies, and it hasn’t been there. At running back we’ve been fine, up until maybe the last day or so O-line’s been fine, tight ends have been fine. We’ve really been hit at corner and defensive tackle. Outside backers and defensive ends have been fine. So, it’s just part of the deal.”
Todd, when you see a lot of procedural penalties like we’ve seen in the last couple days, how much of that is normal for this time of training camp, I’m sure you’d rather not have any. When do you expect it to clean up?
“It’s normal when you’re not ready to take your foot off the gas in terms of putting pressure on your guys to use multiple cadences. We could end it today. We could end the conversation of false starts and just go on one, and hopefully it would end if we went on one all the time. But like I said, you can’t be elite on offense if you don’t have elite cadence. You can’t say that. You have to be elite with cadence; it’s got to be a weapon.”
You’ve got Denzel (Ward) and Tyson (Campbell) on the outside. How do you feel about the depth behind those guys at cornerback with the injuries?
“That’s been the issue, guys banged up here or there with it, but that’s still a work in progress. I don’t think we’re set yet who that third corner is.”
When you look at your left tackle situation, Spencer (Fano) and Dawand (Jones) are still alternating there. I assumed Spencer would be in that starting tackle spot from day one. Is there a world where Dawand could be there and Spencer comes along the learning curve for a few weeks?
“I’m sure I would agree with you. I think there’s a world in a number of spots where a player could end up starting while you get the other players up to speed. We’re not really there yet…let’s start with Dawand. He’s in the best shape of his life. He’s out there competing, talking smack, seems to be in a really good place, and we want to reward that. We also want to bring Spencer along at a pace we feel is the best way to build his confidence, and I think Hop’s (George Warhop) doing a great job with that.”
Given Dawand’s experience on the right side as well, has there been any thought of trying him over there, or are you happy with how he’s done on the left so far?
“Obviously, that could be an option if we felt like putting Tytus (Howard) at right guard and him at tackle. We’ve talked about that a little bit, but as of right now we like Tytus at right tackle, and we like having Dawand, and then Austin (Barber) potentially be your four tackles. So, we’re working through the right guard position. As we get through the next few days, we’ll figure out where we’re at and where we want to go from here. We let it play out, because when you’re installing and start moving guys around, it puts players at a disadvantage, now you’re not seeing them play fast, you’re seeing them process, and it’s hard to evaluate.”
Watson didn’t get the two-minute period, why was that? Did he just want to finish reps?
“We took a little more time than I wanted in the scenarios, so that’s how it turned out. Plus, I want to end on a high note, and it felt pretty cool. I said, ‘okay, call it, let’s go.’ I wanted to end on an offensive high note, because it’s hard going against our defense, so when you get an opportunity to end on a high note the way it did, I thought it was a good time to call it up.”
Todd, as you make these decisions on quarterback and offensive line, did you come into camp with a checklist of milestones, or is it more of a general feel? What’s your process for evaluating these guys as you narrow it down?
“Well, there’s a lot to it, because not every install is the same, not every matchup is the same. There are some things you have to weigh day in and day out: who they win against, the ones versus the twos, who the player was, what the scheme was, what we’re asking them to do, what’s their superpower, what’s their strength, where can we put them in a place where they’re successful. I think there’s a lot to it, but you go in with the thought of, in a perfect world this would be our 22, and then things change. That’s every day.”
Todd, is there a long-term concern about any of the defensive tackles? Is that an area where you might need reinforcements?
“Only for practice. That’s the only thing, from a practice standpoint, you can’t stop. You don’t have an incubator; you don’t have a tank you can put them in. They have to stay on the 90, so where do you pull from? We’re not ready to get rid of them, but we have to have someone to practice. You can’t have the rest of the guys play, so you have to bring those guys in. And we’re going to have to run some plays and we’ll take a break. Today we could go two-and-a-half hours, we’re not going two-and-a-half hours, we’re going for an hour-and-a-half. But we could be out there that long if we wanted to. To get the reps that we need we had walkthrough for an hour, and it doesn’t make sense to walk through again. So, with the limited guys we have, and well do it again tomorrow, we take the reps we can like when you have the rookies and you pause. Turn up the music, bring out some slushies, and get more reps, because it’s not about that. We still have other guys that have to practice, our quarterbacks have to practice, our wideouts have practice and our left tackles have to practice. The areas we’re really trying to evaluate have to practice. So, we’ve got to still get those reps.”
Todd, we saw Spencer working with Jared (Verse) after practice yesterday. How important is it to see that as a coach, and how important is that for Spencer’s development?
“That’s really cool. I walked up to Jared and said, ‘man, we’re so lucky you’re a Brown. I mean holy s*** how cool is this?’ Because he’s not only a great leader, but he also works his rear end off every day, and after practice he’s trying to get Spencer better. I stood right behind him listening to what he was talking about, and it was bang, bang, bang, five reps in a row of his footwork, then talking through what he was going to do, how he could redirect, how he could use his hands and punch. It was within five reps I saw Spencer get better. It was him teaching like he was a coach, and it was awesome.”
Did Spencer win any plays during that?
“He won his fair share of plays. I can’t remember how many or the exact ratio, but Jared’s a hard guy to go against. When he ramps it up, he’s a hard guy to go against, which is a good thing for us.”
Todd, are you able to identify one trait that you think is most important for a quarterback in the pros? Maybe there’s two or three, but is there one?
“Alright. I think there’s more than just one. Ultimately, they wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have some semblance of a physical skill set, there is something that’s made them elite, whether it’s with their feet or the way they process. Some guys are more pocket throwers than other guys outside of it. But definitely up there is mental toughness, the mental stamina to withstand the ups and downs of playing the position, because they’re the closest thing to being a coach. There’s no other position on the roster where they judge their win-loss record. A defensive tackle doesn’t get judged as 10-15 as a starter. Quarterbacks and starting pitchers in baseball, they get it. So, they need the mental stamina to withstand what comes with the position. The highs and lows, they run through them. It starts with that and then obviously mental toughness, and then accuracy. The ability to throw the ball accurately.”
Has there been an effort to get (Dillon) Gabriel out of the pocket a little more?
“We did a little bit the other day, to get him outside of it that. Sometimes it’s by design, sometimes it’s just those are the reps he got, and I scripted it without even thinking about who’d be in there. But yesterday I flipped one and had him run a little sprint-out just to get him out of the pocket. For the most part, though, it’s just the scripts of when he gets in there. At this point we’re just trying to evaluate everything we do rather than fit it to an individual player’s skill set. Eventually, we’ll have to drill down to that at every position. What does a receiver do that fits his skill set, a running back, and then a quarterback in terms of mobility.”
I know it’s been the same with all the quarterbacks, was there something you learned about Dillon from watching him from afar and then seeing him up close?
“One thing Dillon does a really good job of is he’s very even keeled. First of all, he’s got a great personality, he’s fun to be around. You wouldn’t know it unless you’ve been around him. He seems stoic, but no, he’s actually very funny, has a great personality, and he’s handled this situation with unbelievable class. Every player wants to compete, and he hasn’t really had the opportunity in terms of the number of reps. He’s had a chance to compete just with a different number of reps. So, I think he’s done an unbelievable job that way, and for the lack of reps, he does a great job carrying over the meetings to the field. He does a great job with a limited amount of reps which is a credit to him.”
On Jared, he just got here. How impressive is it that he’s already taken on that leadership mantle, even though he’s still getting acclimated?
“It’s unique, it’s rare. It’s a freaking unicorn, that’s what it is. It’s rare that a player comes in like that. It’s Brock Bowers rare, like we had at Georgia. You’re in the category of, wow, the way Brock would work and the way this guy leads and goes about it, it’s a rare category. You just show up and goes about his business like you’ve been there four or five years already, and that’s a real credit to both those kids. Jared, based on his upbringing, his parents, he came from somewhere. With Jared, you can see it when you meet his parents, he’s a self-made guy.”