Head Coach Todd Monken (8.6.26)
On a day when your top two centers were out and you did a lot of stuff with the cadence, pre-snap, how do you think the offense overall fared yesterday?
“It was better. Cadence was a little bit better. The twos had a little back-to-back hiccup that we just kicked them off the field, but that’s just part of it. But we’re getting better, we are getting better at it. Quarterbacks are getting better. I could see that yesterday, a couple times we changed some plays at the line of scrimmage. We were down on the clock, but a couple days before we wouldn’t have gotten it off. So, a lot better.”
Will you have Parker (Brailsford) and Elgton (Jenkins) out there today?
“I don’t know that yet. They were out here before snapping, giving it a shot. I don’t know if we’ll have them out there today.”
Speaking of cadence, how much are you evaluating the throws, the completions and all that versus the smaller things you’re talking about with the cadence and pre-snap?
“It’s all part of the evaluation process, but everything’s not weighted equally. Are we talking about the quarterbacks in general? Is that what we’re getting at? In general, ultimately, the quarterback that’s going to play is the one that gives us the best chance to score points, so it’s all part of that. I would hope that we could get the quarterbacks and our offense to operate at a high level and then have the most talented guy that puts points on the board for us be the starter.”
With Deshaun (Watson) drawing Jared (Verse) off twice on fourth down, I think he used a lot of cadences to be able to do that. Is that the kind of thing you’re looking for with multiple cadences?
“In that situation it was. In that situation, we were trying to get that done, and that’s all part of it. And then getting our O-line comfortable that when we do get a defensive player to jump in the neutral zone, if we’re in the ‘tap’ world, we’ll be able to tap.”
It feels like there’s a competition for that third linebacker spot, and Easton (Mascarenas-Arnold) seems like he’s been out there a decent amount, especially with Carson (Schwesinger) out. What have you seen from him?
“All he does is work, and we were just talking about it yesterday — his attention to detail. He rarely makes the same mistake twice. Every day is the same for him in terms of his attitude, his energy, his body language. I’ve been impressed with all of those linebackers, including him. You can certainly see the difference when the pads come on. I think at times we get enamored in the spring with guys that kind of run around and have athleticism, but obviously, all of those guys, along with Easton, you can really see their strength when the pads come on.”
We just talked to George Warhop, how high of priority was it for you to bring him here?
“It was a high priority. I’ve been with George — this will now be our sixth year together, three in Tampa, then two in Baltimore. We’ve been through a lot together. We are able to play off each other a little bit. He believes in the same things I do in terms of making people deal with us running off the football, physical style of football. So, it was critical — you can’t do it by yourself. Getting George, Coach (Travis) Switzer, Danny Breyer and Ian (Kolste), all those guys to come from Baltimore, along with Mike Bajakian and Jeff Blasko, guys I’d worked with before, makes the transition a heck of a lot smoother.”
Todd, what’s the last installation today — what are we going to see?
“Today is insert play actions and insert runs. So really, that’s what it is today, with a fullback or tight end insert and play actions off of that. And then there’s some others that are almost auxiliary that we wanted to get in today. There’s a few repeat concepts, just because as you get further along, the installs shrink.”
You talk so much about the ten cadences — when you have to go to a silent snap count, what kind of work goes into preparing for that?
“It’s definitely a challenge, because in those instances you probably don’t carry all ten — you just don’t. Try to carry as many as you can. But it’s certainly much harder on the road when you go to a silent count, for sure. It forces you to be extra diligent, guys be on point. And a lot of the onus ends falls on the center now, in terms of delaying the snaps and the variations and the mannerisms if that make sense of the center.”
We saw that Joe Thomas was here yesterday and that he met Spencer Fano. I don’t know if you had a chance to talk to Joe yourself, but how valuable is it for Spencer to have a resource like that?
“When I was interviewing for the job, and then when I got the job, I had reached out to Joe. Joe obviously played for George Warhop as well, and I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a spot for you if you want to help us coach.’ He said, ‘I’d love to coach, but I don’t think I want to commit to an everyday contract,’ I said that’s fine — anytime you want to come out here and help our guys, you’re more than welcome. And we certainly would welcome that.”
Todd, I want to ask you about another member of the staff you mentioned, Danny Breyer. Yesterday, Dillon Gabriel was talking about some of the guys that have helped him with that transition, and you mentioned Demetrius Felton, was a player on this team who’s now back on staff. What have you seen from him, and how helpful has he been as someone who’s not far removed from being a part of the Cleveland Browns and being a player in the NFL in helping these guys transition through this life?
“Sure. A number of what you’d call auxiliary staff — those that don’t have a position group — certainly one of the advantages of having a big staff is they have time to spend with our players when maybe a position coach is getting ready for another meeting. Danny Breyer was with me in Tampa a while back, but he was on defense, and then he was with us at Baltimore for three years, and now with us and he’s been invaluable in terms of projects and in terms of game planning. And obviously, (Demetric) Felton coming back here, really has headed up, along with James Cook, the ability for our guys using their iPad more efficiently, really that’s the biggest thing to their advantage, and study outside the building.”
Todd, with today being the last install day, as you mentioned, how will things change from today to tomorrow when there’s less to be installed?
“It’ll change a little bit in terms of what we drill down into who we think we are at this point, obviously subject to change but that’s really it, and then you’ll get into more situational football. You’ll get to your premier plays. You’ll try to work it in now that everything’s installed, then you’ll also have to start working in terms of on what we don’t see from our defense, if you’re talking offensively. In terms of odd fronts, which we’re going to see from a number of the teams we play this year, especially the place I was last year. So we’ve got to work on that a little bit of that. That’s really what you start to dive into.”
Everybody talks about stacking one good day after another, and in (Deshaun) Watson’s case, he had a good day yesterday, that was obvious. Have you seen the quarterbacks be able to stack good day after good day, or has there been inconsistency?
“At some times. I think it’s probably been like anything when you’re installing, you’re going against a really good defense. I’m not sure stacking days has come up. I think what we’re trying to do is stack as many good plays as we can within what we’re asking them to do on a given day. I’d much prefer stacking really good days, but as the head coach, if the offense is stacking really good days, it probably means the defense wasn’t stacking a very good day. So, within every practice there’s usually give and take, some ebb and flow of practice — some things you all don’t see, and some things that at the moment we don’t see until we see it on tape. So it’s really about how many plays in a row can we stack? Today we’ll get a chance to move the ball a little bit, we’ll get a chance to see a little bit in two-minute, where you do have to stack a number of plays. When you’re just installing, you’re just running plays, and it’s hard to really know if we’re being efficient enough, consistently, to move the ball and score points.”
Even though you have been installing this whole time, can you see the vision — can you see flashes of what this can be if it all comes together, when you look out there and see all those guys?
“Sure. I think you can see it. First of all, the first thing we’re trying to do is create the best version of our players that we can and get them to the top end of their measurable skill set. If we do that from a developmental standpoint, and then we have a system that allows our players to play fast, then we have something. But it starts with the players, in terms of developing them to play at the highest level of their skill set. So that’s the first part — are we getting our players to improve on a daily basis? At times we may not see it collectively because we’re rotating a number of players, but I think once we get that right, what they do well, and then blend them into the system, and then once we get moving, the football — Bills, preseason games — you’ll really start to see it come together.”
A few of your key players got together and hosted a baptism and worship event this summer. Talk about the bond you see with this team, and what makes it different from ones in the past.
“You can see the connection that we have, the guys, and I think that’s a credit to them — they like being around each other. You can see it in the locker room, you can see it on the field, you can see it in the way we warm up, you can see it when they’re around each other. I think our staff does a great job with that. I think certainly we would want our players, it started in the offseason — it’s our job to make our players want to be here, around us, in terms of their development piece. Are they getting everything they need to make the most money they can, and for us to be the best team? That connection is a part of that — they want to be around each other, want to be around the staff, feel like they’re getting developed. I think that’s carried over.”
Todd, I think the defense is up to 12 interceptions so far this camp. When you’ve watched those back, how much of that relates to the disguises in the secondary that we’ve heard so much about so far, and how’s that install process going?
“Some of it’s part of that. I mean 12 interceptions; you’re looking at probably all of the above. Really good players, one of them is Denzel (Ward) making a great play. Some fall under the umbrella of pressure, quarterback’s under duress. Sometimes it’s a misread, sometimes it’s a poor call that didn’t put them in a very advantageous position. Sometimes you get a tipped ball, quarterback doesn’t keep it neck-down underneath, and the ball gets tipped against zone defense. So, it’s really all of the above, but disguises are part of that, and really good football players are a part of that.”
We saw a video of you talking to the team in the huddle — some people call you crazy. Are you okay with that?
“It’s a matter of what term they use it by and what it’s in reference of. We all are crazy in a little bit about what’s important to us, right? Crazy is probably strong — passion might be it. When we get out there, cross the lines, or we go into the meetings, it’s our job as coaches, as I always say, to confront anything that gets in the way of winning football. That’s our job, ultimately. And so that part of it is going to frustrate me when we don’t — including myself. I hope I do a good job of owning that when I’m not on point, and I feel like I have over the years. So that part of it is I owe it to the players for what they want out of their careers and what we want out of our team. So, when we go out there, we should fight like hell to be perfect in everything that we do, knowing that we’re going to fall short. But we ought to fight like hell for it. If that’s crazy, then I just feel like that’s my job.”
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