RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Cleveland Browns named Deshaun Watson starting quarterback on Monday. No one outside the Browns’ building seemed to agree with the decision , but ultimately all that mattered was what head coach Todd Monken and his staff thought.
Monken addressed the media shortly after the news broke that Watson had beaten out Shedeur Sanders for the job, and he explained the reasoning behind the decision. He also gave a little insight into what he had said to both quarterbacks and how Sanders reacted to the bad news.
“Deshaun is gonna start against Jacksonville,” said Monken . “I took in the whole body of work over the course of offseason. To training camp. To the games. The joint practice. And ultimately felt like, to start the season on the road, Deshaun gave us the best chance to move the ball and score points. That’s really what it’s about. I felt that way going into the last game but wasn’t sure. And after we talked as a staff and after we re-looked at everything, we’re gonna go in that direction.”
MORE: Browns’ Todd Monken sheds light on QB competition entering offseason program
If you under any impression that this means the quarterback competition is over, you really only need to hear Monken say that Watson is going to “start against Jacksonville.” He’s not saying he’s the starting quarterback this season, which is what every team expects to figure out heading into the season. He’s saying that Watson is the starter this week. As soon as Watson plays poorly, he’s going to be having conversations and looking at tape and he’s going to have to announce the starter again. And next time it might be Sanders.
Speaking of Sanders, Monken said the backup was understanding and smiled through their entire meeting on Monday morning.
MORE: Browns’ Todd Monken lists key goals for Shedeur Sanders ahead of start against Bills
Shedeur Sanders’ reaction
“He was awesome,” said Monken. “I mean you talk about someone that really understands the long game. That really I think has come to understand the long game. Right? What are we really in this for. What am I in this for? To have the Browns be an organization that people aspire to be. The long game. Where do we wanna be in the long term? And he understands that as a quarterback.”
In this case Monken mentioned Sanders understanding that it was “not really a short term, maybe long-term decision.” Which brings us to something Monken said when talking about Watson’s comments about the fans over the weekend.
MORE: Todd Monken’s latest social media post sparks speculation about Browns’ QB1 plans
Watson’s “big boy pants”
“On one side, I 100% understand where Deshaun is coming from, but ultimately, we’re pros. I mean, we’ve gotta put on a good product and we’ve gotta play. Gotta pull your big boy pants up and let’s go play.”
It’s probably not a good sign when you say someone has to pull his “big boy pants up” and you’re talking about the 30-year-old you just named starting quarterback of your NFL team. This is definitely going to be a week-to-week situation, which is horrible for the team, but great for content online.
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