Todd Monken ended the Cleveland Browns’ practice abruptly on Day 11 of the training camp following a series of errors. Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson were involved.
Monken inherited a tricky quarterback battle when he accepted the Browns job earlier in the year. In the mix are crowd favorite Shedeur Sanders, veteran Deshaun Watson, and Dillon Gabriel. The Browns also added Arkansas alum Taylen Green, but he’s unlikely to take the job ahead of the other three.
Monken made it clear that he will only announce the name of his starting signal-caller at the end of training camp. Although the earliest reports favored Sanders, some insiders have claimed that none of the QBs have taken a solid edge. Mistakes have been the key theme of the camp so far.
Monday’s camp wasn’t much different either. Ashley Bastock of Cleveland.com tweeted that Todd Monken ended the practice after the offense committed a series of errors.
One minute end of half situation. Sanders up first and the drive ends with two false starts on the line. Watson next and after two completions, a sack, an illegal formation and a false start. Monken ended practice and looked like he threw something.
Bastock tweeted
Per Bastock, the practice drive started at the 46-yard line with Sanders taking the first snaps. Sanders’ first pass was a completion to Jerry Jeudy. But ‘his drive ended after a deep incompletion to Denzel Boston and what looked like two straight false starts on the offensive line.’
Watson stepped next and completed consecutive passes to Tylan Wallace and marginally escaped taking a sack. This play was followed by the referee stopping the drive due to illegal formation. Monken ordered his coaches to end the practice. Bastock noticed that the first-time head coach was animated afterwards.
Browns kick off their preseason exploits against the Chicago Bears on August 15, followed by matches against the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots. After the practice ended on Monday, coach Monken faced the media and teased a provisional Browns starting eleven.
Jeff Schudel of News Herald asked Monken if he had said: ‘Deshaun is better than Shedeur, or did you say Deshaun has gotten better?’
Monken did not appreciate the question. He quickly fired back at Schudel.
Oh, I don’t think I said he’s better than Shedeur. I’m not sure I went that far, but I appreciate you trying to trap me in that [].
Monken further revealed some more information about how he would use both Sanders and Watson in preseason.
[They’re] each going to start a game. We’re going to go through this week, and next week we’ll have to decide when we practice against the [Buffalo] Bills, because you’re not going to give just one practice … You’re going to have to rotate those guys some in the preseason practices. After those two games, I think we’ll be closer to having a better idea.
Todd Monken said
According to Schudel, Monken plans to play a majority of the starters during the first series against the Bears.
The Browns drafted Sanders 144th overall in 2025. He completed 120 passes for 1400 yards, threw 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He finished his rookie year with a 3-4 record and participated in his first Pro Bowl. Cleveland finished at the bottom of the AFC North for the second consecutive season.