Head Coach Todd Monken (9.23.26)
How do you feel about your first real home game in front of these fans? How do you guys feel about coming back home and finally having a home opener, and the energy that you hope to draw?
“Oh, it’s going to be great. I mean, the greatest fans in all pro sports. We’re excited. I felt it in the third preseason game, I felt it when we played better, I felt it because we put a good product out there, and that’s all they want to see is a good product. And going on the road the first two games, not easy. I commend our players and our coaches to come back 1-1. We would have liked to be 2-0, but that’s the NFL. We’re excited to come back home and make it a hard place for the (Carolina) Panthers to play this weekend.”
Todd, when you study the film from Monday, whatever you did yesterday, what can you guys do to get the running game to where you want it to be?
“It’s usually pretty simple. We can scheme it better and we can execute better, and that’s just the way it is. We could call it better. It’s all the above. When you’re not running it to a certain standard, then you got to scheme it better, got to coach it better, got to execute it better. And I was proud of our guys because we had to pivot. They were pressuring off the edge, and we went to getting the ball out of our hands, and you got to be able to win in a number of ways. It’s not sustainable to not be able to run the football, it’s absolutely not sustainable. But I do think in order to be elite on offense, you’re going to need to be able to run it when you need to run it, which at times we did, sometimes we didn’t. And you’re going to need to be able to throw it when you need to throw it, based on what you see. But obviously, we got a lot of work to do, and we’ll continue to work on it starting today.”
It’s only been two games, but they got gashed in Chicago. They looked a little bit better against Atlanta. Does that give you a false sense of how you think they’ll look?
“It’s hard after two games, because the first game got away from them a little bit, and Chicago was hot, and then obviously you play Atlanta and they were without their starting quarterback. So, it’s just hard. I know this, when I turn on the tape, I see a really well-coached defense, I see really good players. You can see, they’ve had a ton of success there as a staff and as players. It’s a week-to-week league, and what I look at is schematically, are they sound, do they present problems to you offensively, and do they have good players that are playing hard? And they do. So, we have a real challenge this week, irrespective, because it’s week-to-week, right? It’s too early, and anyways, even if it, statistics really don’t matter, it matters how we play Sunday. Just like with us running it, we got to run it better, and we’re going to run it better.”
Todd, how have you seen Bryce Young grow as a quarterback?
“Well, I haven’t seen him grow. Hell, the last time it really mattered when I watched him, he was at Alabama. So, growing? I mean, shoot, he was awesome then. So, good for him, and where he’s come from, the start that he had, and even a few years ago when Andy Dalton took over, that’s not easy. That’s not easy. It says a lot about him, how he’s wired, what a great job Dave (Canales) has done, and their offensive staff, with him. And he’s hard to corral, I mean, he really is. He makes some plays that, he’s one-of-one, that he can do those kinds of things. So, we have a work cut out for us keeping him hemmed in and doing a great job, because he’s elusive. Like I said, I haven’t seen him grow, because the last time I saw him, I was in college and he was killing it.”
Are you going to go back to the drawing board on your sneak package? Maybe try and get creative and work things out to get more yardage?
“Well, it obviously was below the line. I mean, what we thought we had oiled up, we didn’t. That’s probably the best way to say it. Because what shows up on tape is obviously you. So, we certainly weren’t ready for prime time. We have to coach it better and we will.”
Can using Deshaun (Watson), the threat of Deshaun as a runner, help that at all? Whether it’s RPOs or read-option-type stuff that maybe you haven’t done quite as much of that?
“Some of that’s a piece of it. We did spit a bubble screen out there that got us 10, we spit another one out there, lost three. Certainly, some of the perimeter gain, he’s converted some of those on third downs with his legs, certainly he’s athletic. Each game plan has a slightly different flavor to it as we go into it, but ultimately, it’s about how we execute at the point of attack, and it’s been up and down, and everybody’s taking their turns, including us as coaches. We got to scheme it better, we got to plan it better, got to call it better, and then we certainly can execute better.”
With two games and eleven days until the short week next week, are there any adjustments to the schedule this week? Or do you have one group doing advanced scouting right now to bridge the gap?
“Well, it’s much more on the staff, from a player standpoint nothing changes. From a staff standpoint, when you get later in the week, they have to work ahead. I’m not capable of working ahead. I can’t do it, I mean, I’m calling it. So, I’ll have to get started once the game ends. So, Sunday night I’ll have a chance to start on Pittsburgh, obviously they’re different. Patrick Graham was at the Raiders, and obviously we’ll have a couple of games to watch, and then the third game come Monday morning. But in those Thursday games, you got to do what you do best and get your guys back. To me, that’s what I found, is how do we do what we do best, and how do we get our guys’ legs back and fresh, so we can let it rip on Thursday.”
You mentioned the other day that Deshaun was still a very young quarterback. At the age of 31, most people would disagree with that. What was your thinking behind that?
“I guess the way I phrased it wasn’t exactly that. What I meant in terms of, like, being away from the game, that’s what I meant as much as anything, maybe not so much in his age, which was probably not what I meant by saying young. I just mean, like, how many games he’s played over the last five years, how long, how much he’s been around us in what we do. That’s all I was saying, was that I think it’s fair to think that after being injured, being out, right, that there’s going to be some kind of a buffer there, kind of some growing to do, and some building back your confidence, for sure, in terms of how you play. We all need that, right? And so that’s all part of it. I shouldn’t have probably said it, ‘young.’ I meant really, over the last few years, in terms of experience, number of games played, number of practices, right? When you’re out because you’re injured, you’re also not practicing. So, there’s a lot of that that goes into constantly getting reps at what you do, right? Changes in offenses, changes in coaches, you getting hurt, that’s really what I meant. I shouldn’t have probably said young, because I wasn’t expecting pushback on it. I was just basically saying he hadn’t played in a while. I probably should have just said it that way.”
When you look at the run game, how much can you attribute your struggles to a new scheme and five new offensive linemen?
“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, all that’s kind of, it’s more than just one thing. We got to scheme it better; we got to play better. There’s a part of that, that you’ve got some new players and some young players, but ultimately, we got to coach it better, we got to scheme it better, we got to play better. And that’s how it always is. I mean, that’s how it’s always going to be. You guys are going to get tired of me saying it, you’re going to say it again, here comes better scheme, better play. That’s what it is. It’s really that simple. It’s really how it’s always been, and it will continue to be that way.”
With Deshaun, when you come back from an injury and rebuild that confidence, how does the prospect of crowd reaction on Sunday, what part does that play in it, if at all?
“Are you asking me, or are you going to ask Deshaun? I don’t know, I don’t control the fans. I mean, we have got great fans, I’ve said that, I’ve been here, what does every fan want? Good football, a chance to win, be proud of their team. I mean, that’s what everybody wants. I know this, I’m excited to come back home and play, because I know the most important thing is seeing the Browns win. That’s the most important thing, right? That a fan wants to see a good product. And we expect that. We should expect that, to make it hard on the Panthers to operate and give ourselves the best chance to win. That’s the saying of home-field advantage, right? So, I’m excited, I’m excited for us to come home and get in front of our fans.”
Have you addressed how Deshaun might be able to better handle a boo or two in the coming Sunday? Or does he have to figure that out for himself?
“Well, no, I mean, he’s not on his own. We’re all here for him. I mean, it’s, what have you done all the work for, man? What have you done it for? What have you worked for 22 months to come back? To play and give yourself a chance to play at a high level. I mean, it’s really cool, I said, ‘let it rip. What do you have to fear? Let it rip, man. You’ve already had a hell of a career already, man. Let’s just go down fighting, go back, go down swinging. Let’s improve every week as a team and as a unit,’ and there’s still going to be pitfalls. We’re human, we’re a young offense, so, and we’re young being together, I’ll call it, using that term again, for God’s sakes, so I’m going to get that back. But I’m just saying in general, like, let’s just have a great week, and let’s put our best foot forward, and then we can turn the page the next week and see where we’re at the next week. That’s all we can do.”
I think Blake Whiteheart gets pigeonholed as a blocking tight end. What did it kind of mean for him to catch that pass and score the go-ahead touchdown?
“I just told him I was fired up that he didn’t fall, looked like he was going to stumble there. I said it looked like he carried over our ball-security drill, didn’t have us have to play another play. I’m just happy for him. You talk about a guy that just works, that’s all he does. He’s one of our hardest workers. He reminds me a lot of Brock Bowers, in terms of his work, and those guys are in a rare category. Or, like we used to call Brock Bowers, like, ‘buddy, the yellow lab.’ He could play ball all day, he’d have his tongue out, he’d be red, like you could almost kill him, and he wouldn’t want to come out. And Blake’s just like that, man. I got to come up with a different name, because Brock was sandy-haired, semi-balding, where Blake is not. But he’ll go all day and he won’t want to come out. Those are rare guys. And that’s why he’s a Brown, that’s why he’s been here, it’s why he’s made it in the NFL. He’s been diligent with his blocking; he’s been diligent in getting better with his route running. I’m happy for him. I’m happy for us, in the moment, for him to be able to get that touchdown.”
Todd, Denzel (Boston) on the catch-and-run for the touchdown, he broke what looked like three tackles practically at once. How impressive is that part of the play? And can you talk about all the offseason work that goes into making a move like that.
“Well, he’s big and powerful, and he got twisted around, a couple of defenders kind of knocked into each other, and he kept his balance. And that was the spark, you can say the Myles (Harden) interception was too, but at a certain point, you got to make a play, especially on offense, right, where we’ve struggled to make a play. Like, ‘okay, oh man, we might be able to get this done here,’ and then we kind of fed off that a little bit. And you need players to make plays, we need systems that allow them to play fast, and then you’ve got to have players make plays. And he made a play there.”
Deshaun’s depth of target and average depth of throw, there’s been a lot of discussion about that. How much of that is the game plan, or just what he’s seeing? And how much of it too is just letting receivers make plays with yards after the catch?
“Some of it. Some of it’s by design, some of it is we got pressure and couldn’t push it down the field. The second drive of the game, after we screwed up the first one, the second drive of the game, he threw the ball down the field to Harold (Fannin Jr.), and we had an explosive play. And we had some others that, protection broke down or coverage forced us to check it down. So, we understand that you’re going to have to be explosive to score, we understand that. And like every team, you’re trying to find ways to push the ball down the field, but with the pressure we were getting in the second half, we had to get it out of our hands and force them to cover us. And I thought our guys did a really good job of that. And you have to be able to do it in a number of ways. The reason we were able to do that is because we were able to convert on third downs. If you’re not going to be explosive, you better be lead on conversion downs, or you’re going to punt it. And at times we weren’t, at times we weren’t. And there’s a number of things we have to work on. The best thing is we’re 1-1, and we really haven’t played our best football yet. We’re only going to continue to get better, because our guys work their rear ends off. We’re a young team that works their rear ends off every single day and is going to continue to get better. And all they have to think about is this week. That’s all it is, that’s actually – well, all they think about is today. But this week, and what we have to do to get better, to take another step forward, because every team is going to continue to improve. Do we take the same step?”
I know you had a relatively shorter quarterback at Georgia; Bryce Young is the shortest quarterback in the league. Can you talk about the challenge he presents?
“Well, what they’ve done, they’ve done a great job of solidifying the inside of their pocket with big guards and their center, they’re very stout. That allows him to not get nearly the push that affects every quarterback, forget, guys that are a little bit shorter. But he’s unique in that he can find lanes, he moves around, like there were big guys in college. We had big guys at Georgia, we had four first-round picks that are all probably worth a combined billion dollars now, that would get up there, and he had to figure it out then. And he’s done a great job, and their staff have helped him figure it out now, but it is a challenge. But he’s had to always do it. And you can see the development piece that their staff’s done a great job of, and that he’s done a great job of.”
Seventy-one points in the last two weeks from that offense. How do you feel about slowing them down?
“We have to play good football if we’re not careful. They’re explosive, obviously Bryce can extend plays, they’ve got a really good offensive line, they’ve got good skilled players. T-Mac (Tetairoa McMillan) and Coker (Jalen Coker), I think is his name, he’s a good player, and they range, and they look to shoot it down the field and do a great job with their play-action. So, we’re going to have to do a great job of coverage, and when we get a chance to get our hands on Bryce, or at least keep him contained, we have to do a great job there. And they do a great job with all their motions and shifts and trying to uncover receivers down the field. And it’ll be a real challenge for us, like it is every week. This is the NFL; every team you play has really good players and really good coaches. So, we’re going to have to be on point with our rush lanes and our coverage.”
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