Head Coach Todd Monken (9.1.26)
What will you guys do on Thursday? Originally, I think it was supposed to be a practice day. Is that going to be now like a walkthrough, and what’s your philosophy there?
“It’ll be a lift, a run, and a walk. We’ll get them out of here by noonish, one o’clock. They’ll have Friday, Saturday, Sunday off, and then we’ll get back to work on Monday.”
How important is it to give them those three days off before the grind really gets going?
“I’d prefer to practice, really, but we’re giving them the days off. They need it. I love practice, I love being around our guys, I like meeting with our guys, I like shrinking every margin we can that keeps us from winning football games. So if that, which I think it will, with our guys and their bodies to get their mind right and get fresh for the grind then that’s what’s best. I love being around our guys because of the way they go about their business every day.”
Is Monday when it really switches over to being more Jacksonville-focused, or are you going to do that tomorrow, too?
“Some of it’s tomorrow, then full-on Thursday, and then obviously all of next week.”
A couple of years ago, you were talking about the Harbaugh Coaching Academy and we were talking about your keys to a great offense. You talked about generating explosives in the passing game in a variety of ways, like the vertical passing game. What encompasses that when it comes to Deshaun (Watson), how confident are you that he can be a quarterback that really stretches and tests defenses down the field?
“You’re not going to be elite on offense and score points if you can’t create explosive. It’s so hard to drive the football the length of the field without an explosive. You can look at the studies in terms of percentage of scoring a touchdown or getting a field goal with one explosive in a drive. Obviously, that comes after you’ve gotten the first first down. Every coordinator is going to say we’re chasing explosives, and everyone runs with, “Oh chasing explosives.” Well, no s***. Everyone’s chasing explosives and trying to not to turn it over. And that’s what you’re trying to do. What’s the defense trying to do? Turn you over and not allow explosives. That’s really the big chess match is that. The ways that you win. So, obviously having explosive players helps that. Being able to scheme it up against certain looks and then being able to execute because your protection has to hold up when you get those opportunities. I’m confident in Deshaun and our ability to push the ball down the field, otherwise we wouldn’t be starting him.”
Obviously, working through some things on the right side of your offensive line. Through the preseason and the opportunity to see and to be able to get those guys in the trenches, what do you see the identity of what this offensive line can be once you determine that starting five and even the depth behind it?
“Well, it starts up front. I know our defense and it’s the same on offense, they’re the engine. They’re the ones that make it go. It’s what’s under the hood. Everything on the outside is shiny, but if you don’t have the right engine, you’re not going to go fast. And, so, they’re the start of it. Protection beats coverage, and our ability to control the game starts with being able to run the football. So, I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen. Obviously, every day we’re going to continue to take steps forward when we have our guys out there. I expect that today. Even though today we’re in shells, it’s a big day for us. It’s going to be hot out there today. The good Lord blessed us with a couple of hot days in a row, which is what we needed. That’s where we’re headed in a week, so it’s a blessing. That’s what I told the guys, and I’ll tell them again today, it’s a blessing. Don’t look at anything else, today’s a blessing to be out there in the heat.”
Going back to chasing explosives and also not turning the ball over, how do you balance the risk that might come with chasing those big plays?
“That’s exactly right, because you can go without turning it over and take a knee every down. I mean, hey we lead the country in not turning it over and you punted every damn time you had it. Or you can say you want to lead the American explosives and just throw it down the field every down, and you turn it over 12 times. So that is the balance of our ability to convert. When you’re not explosive, then that’s where conversion downs come into play, and then obviously scoring touchdowns in the red zone, you can be as explosive as you want, but if every time you’re kicking field goals, it really goes for not. So, there is that balance. Everybody’s a part of that, from play calling to our protection to our route running to our ability to see things from a quarterback position.”
You’ve had defensive guys back that were out for only a couple of days, but how much of a difference has it made just in that little time they’ve been back in terms of what you’ve seen on the field, and in terms of just competency and knowing what do to pre-snap and post-snap?
“Are you talking defensively?’
Yeah, defensively.
“Oh yeah, having our guys back, I mean, there’s a reason they’re all ones. There’s a reason why they’re paid how they’re paid, and that is to play at a really high level. I’ve seen it when they’ve been out there, and it’s been great having them back. I mean their consistency over the course of time, when you have those types of players, they’re going to make a play that ends a drive. Someone up front is going to wreak havoc and end a drive. You’re going to get a pass breakup that’s going to end a drive. The more playmakers you have on both sides of the ball, with your 22, on offense you can stack drives, and on defense you have a chance to get a stop. You have guys, that at any given point in a drive, will make a play to get a stop.”
Since Deshaun has been in Cleveland, his yards-per-attempt numbers and his aDOT (average depth of target) numbers have been down. I don’t know how much time you’ve spent watching some of the old stuff, but what would you pinpoint as to why his explosive stuff has dipped?
“I really, to be honest, haven’t looked at it. To be honest, only from afar. When people say, “You had to look at it,” well, not really. I looked at it from afar when I was down the road, in crossover film or something, but I try to take everything at face value, what I see. It doesn’t matter what the player is, I think we owe that to our players, guys that are on the roster. I want to go into it thinking every player we have is elite, and all they have to do is prove me right. That’s all they have to do. That’s what I’m going to go into it. They’re on an NFL roster, I expect them to play well, and I just want them to prove me right. So, I really haven’t looked at that, different staff, different system. We’ll let it play out. We’ll see where it goes starting a week from now.”
I know Taylen (Green) is wholly committed to playing quarterback and doesn’t want to entertain anything else, but has the thought crossed your mind to see if he could catch the football with that kind of speed and size?
“It’s hard now. It’s hard to be elite at one thing, let alone switch to something you didn’t really play in college. At this point he’s a quarterback, and there’s really nothing we can do now. Let’s say we put him at receiver or on special teams and he got his shoulder knocked around, or his back. Especially with us putting Dillon (Gabriel) on IR, that’s really not something we want to engage right now.”
How good of a feel can you get for a team coming out of camp and going into the regular season?
“I think you can get a feel for who you have as men. I don’t make predictions, but I know the men that we have in that room and how hard they’ve worked and how connected they are, and I’m excited for the season to watch them play. I don’t make individual predictions about a total a player’s going to have, catches, sacks, I don’t make predictions on wins. What I say is I expect our team to play at a really high level, because that’s all I’ve seen. That’s all they’ve shown me from day one.”
Going back to the explosive thing. Having an upgrade to the receiver that you did in the offseason, and you have Isaiah (Bond) in his second year, how important is that into what you’re trying to do, pushing it or the run after the catch as you mentioned?
“The NFL market dictates that. It says how important that position is. If you just look, the NFL dollars, the market says what teams value. So, you talk about quarterback. Well then, the next highest paid position you could argue might be tackle, but it’s wideouts on offense. I mean, it’s guys who can really change the game and dictate what a defensive coordinator does. Then you go to defense, what is it? Pass rushers. That’s what their teams are coveting. The market has changed in terms of how important having your skill guys on the perimeter that allow you to dictate or at least try to dictate what you see from the other side, and those guys have been as advertised. I’m really excited. From the moment they got here, all they’ve done is work and continue to get better.”
Mason (Graham), when we talked to him today, was talking about physically feeling a bit of a difference this year compared to his rookie year, and it looks like he’s added muscle and stuff. How have you seen a difference in him as he’s come along this offseason, even thinking back to when you went against him a couple of times?
“It’s hard, because we really just went against him, so it’s hard to really get a gauge of where he was. But all I know, since I’ve been here, is I see a highly intelligent football player that has elite ball get-off. And, so, he is super disruptive, but he’s not just running into a dark room, he gets it. He understands what offenses are trying to do, what calls are made up front, if it’s a different stance by an offensive lineman. Anything that he can gather that information, which makes him, in my opinion, just an ascending player who’s only going to continue to get better.”
I know you had Dabo Swinney here, and I’m sure you maybe you talked to him a little bit about Deshaun. Have you also, perhaps, checked in with Bill O’Brien to get any insight into some of the things Deshaun does really well?
“Oh yeah, and that’s really a good point. Dabo was here and we talked for a little bit about it. I certainly could have reached out to Bill. I really kind of wanted a clean slate. Because even though I said I really didn’t watch it, you’ve watched it from afar, and you’re not deaf to the noise, right, obviously what you hear. But you try to tune that out and try to focus on what you see every day and what the player brings every day, and for that player to feel your belief in them, which is ultimately what our job is. Just like it would be with our kids. A father or a grandfather or a mother’s belief in their children or your players helps carry them a long way. We believe in you. I’ve got you. That is a verbal contract that I make, and we make to each other as a team. I have you. I have your back.”
To your point about receivers being so valuable, I think we get caught up in, ‘can the quarterback elevate the rest of the offense,’ but how can upgrades around the quarterback help the quarterback?
“A hundred percent. They can’t do it on their own. You can’t control the game if you’re not good up front. You can’t. You can’t throw it when you want to throw it, and you can’t run it when you want to run it. So, it always starts up front, and our ability to be physical up front and then let the shiny part of our offense go to work. But without that, the engine, it just sits in the driveway looking shiny as hell. The hood’s up and the engine isn’t working the way you want it. That’s just the way it is. They’ve got to be driving it, and the rest of it looks pretty driving down the street with the top down and the windows down, and, hell, you’re really rolling.”
You just mentioned you’re not oblivious to the outside noise about Deshaun.
“Well, that was at the stadium.”
My question is, does it bother you how the fans reflect on your decision to start him?
“Absolutely not. Would I prefer that we would all be on the same page? Yeah, but that has nothing to do with my decision, and it can never have anything to do with my decision. My decision has got to be about what’s best for the Browns in week one and all the way through the season, and as long as I’m the head coach here.”
We noticed Spencer Fano doing some work snapping the ball yesterday. What’s the thinking there?
“You’re only going to have so many guys up on game day, that’s really where it comes. You always have to have a third center. You go through it at quarterback. You go through it like, ‘Do we have a third quarterback up?’ And neither is good. If you don’t have a third quarterback, what did we see with the (San Francisco) 49ers a few years ago They didn’t have a third quarterback and the game was over. It’s the same at center. If you can’t snap the football, you only have so many guys up. You have to do the same thing really with your specialists. If something happened with Andre (Szmyt), someone’s out there working to kick. Or your snapper, you’re going to have Blake (Whiteheart) or somebody work, because you have to have somebody because you can’t dress everybody. That’s really what’s behind it. We’ve got a guy that we think can do it and we just have to have him at least somewhat up to speed. It’s hard to get him the reps because he’s still a young player at tackle.”
Explosives can take a lot of different shapes and forms. Right now, Isaiah Bond is still in the concussion protocol, and we don’t know where that’s going yet, but do you feel like you have a wide range of explosives on this team that can come from many different people and look different in so many different ways?
“Sure. I think Harold Fannin can be explosive, either with his route running or running people over. We’ve seen Q (Quinshon Judkins) be explosive, we’ve seen Dylan Sampson be explosive. I’ve seen number one (KC Concepcion) and I’ve seen 12 (Denzel Boston) be explosive. I’ve seen Jerry Jeudy at his best and Isaiah Bond be explosive. So, you’re talking about, still, a very young core of players. Three of the top four receivers I just talked about were guys that are in their first or second year. The two running backs and the tight end are in their second year. The future is really bright, and they’re only going to continue to get better because they’re wired the right way. The way they go about it every day. And then we’ve got to build a system that allows their talent shine, starting with the offensive linemen, and let those guys shine.”
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