Todd Monken - Head Coach, browns Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-11 | Full transcript (primary source).
On September 11, 2026, Todd Monken addressed the media in a press conference for the Browns, discussing player injuries and preparations for the upcoming game. The focus was on the team's readiness and the performance of rookie players in light of recent developments.
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Transcript
Monken: Obviously, Tevin not able to go, just is the recurrence of is that back? Been kind of bothering him off pretty alter it again. I'm not getting into specifics. He's just not able to go this week. Austin Barbara, make the start. He'll start right guard, yes.
Reporter: How do you just feel about the past couple of days that you've had?
Monken: Feel great, I mean, I feel good about all of our guys. I mean, like I said the other day, I'm excited to watch our guys play. I think that's as much as anything. I really like the way our guys have prepped, the way they've prepared. And now the physical part of the week is over. Now it's the mental part and how we take care of our bodies, right? Putting ourselves in position outside of the physical to play our best football Sunday.
Reporter: Just what about the back now with Austin starting? You guys love two rookies on that O line. Like what gives you the confidence that the moment won't be too big for them or anything like that?
Monken: Just the way they practice, just what I've seen every day. I mean, that's all you can go by, is what you see every day. And I haven't seen anything to the contrary that would make me believe that they're not gonna play really, really well and confidently.
Reporter: We're contemplating starting Austin regardless of this injury. Does that give you even more confidence?
Monken: Sure. Putting him in there? No, I think so. We see the talent that is there and he needs to play. And that's really where we're at with a number of guys. There's gonna end up probably being four rookie starters. And a couple of guys with Harold and Q, they're second year players. So we're excited to go play. I mean, it's the best players play, doesn't matter of age. And they're our best guys, it gives us the best chance to win.
Reporter: If you go into a game, do you think to yourself it's gonna be a low score game or a high score game that it could affect decisions like going for it on a fourth down or playing a field position?
Monken: Some of that's part of it. I mean, I think there are factors that plays into decisions. Some of that is how you feel like the game is gonna go or whether plays into that or who you're playing. But ultimately, there's a good amount of times you're wrong. In terms of how you think the game is gonna go. And I think whether it's, I would think they would say the same things just like us. I mean, we're gonna try and score every time we have it. And I think we're gonna try to get after every possession on defense and try to stop them. I mean, I never anticipate that it's gonna be one or the other, right? High scoring game, a low scoring game. We just play it out and see where we're at.
Reporter: And we've talked a lot about these first two games being in Florida. And the heat and the humidity and everything. How well do you feel like you guys have prepared themselves to deal with it? I know, kind of like getting down in the past has struggled a little bit with cramping in hot games. I mean, is that something you guys have been extra diligent about this week?
Monken: For sure, and we'll be diligent in our warmups when we get down there. We were lucky enough last week to get a couple of days. Our big work days were, it was in the 90s, so that was great for us. So, and we've done all the things we can do to prep our guys. We can't do those things away from the building. That's up to the players, what they put in their bodies, how they hydrate the food they put in their bodies, the rest that they get. And then leading up to the game, our travel, how we handle the travel and then go play, just like a team's gonna have to do when they come here when it's cold. Right, that's just part of playing in the NFL, right, in terms of the elements, and we'll be ready to go.
Reporter: Have you decided yet if Kaitlyn will have a package in place for this game?
Monken: I have not yet, possibly.
Reporter: Byron yesterday about Casey as a part returner and just his uses in general. How will you guys kind of monitor that throughout the game and communicate on how much you want him in that role on top of his offense?
Monken: We're not monitoring it, I mean, he's gonna do it. I mean, we're gonna put our most explosive players out there, gives us a chance to score, and he's one of those guys. So now he gets nicked up, that's different. But as of now, we're gonna play our best players in every scenario we have during the game to give ourselves the best chance to score, and stop people.
Reporter: What kind of a week has Deshaun had out there just in these last couple of days?
Monken: Just a little bit. You know, watching him get all the reps in the last couple of weeks and getting more and more comfortable, how it helped Shador. In terms of his development by splitting the reps and having a competition, you can see it, the converse, whatever the hell it is, the opposite of that. He got, I don't know the word, but he got a lot more of the reps and you could see getting more and more comfortable with the concepts. Obviously, putting the game plan in early and getting him comfortable, but I really like where he's at.
Reporter: Austin Barber said that he and Spencer Fano had been kind of leaning on the veterans as they were preparing for this moment. And he obviously didn't know if he was starting at that point. But Zion Johnson, one of those guys and a game captain, how important is that better leadership going to be, especially in this one with Austin getting the start?
Monken: Well, it's important for our younger players to lean on the guys that have had the career that they've had up till this point, right? How'd you get from point A to point B? How'd you get to where you're at? But once it kicks off, I mean, they're gonna have to rely on their training, and where their inner confidence is at that moment. Like it's gonna have to come from within at that moment. And they're gonna have their ups and downs. That's part of being a young player in this league. But I like their fight. I like the way they battle. And they're really smart, the way they handle practice. And you can see from day to day the corrections that they make individually. Coaching's a part of that, but players making adjustments and talking not only to some of the veteran players offensively, but the guys on defense. You can really see that.
Reporter: You mentioned the other day that it would be hard to have three quarterbacks active. But since you haven't decided on tailing yet, is that still in play that you could possibly have three quarterbacks up?
Monken: Sure, first of all, anybody that's part of the 53 plus two elevations. If they're part of our team and they're practicing have the ability to play on Sunday. So that's, you have practice squad guys where you get two elevations and you get everybody that's on the 53. As we get closer to Sunday, we'll narrow that band down a little bit.
Reporter: Off seasons over, did you have to deviate along the way on anything? Did anything surprise you about this whole process and first time going through as a head coach?
Monken: Not really. I mean, no, nothing surprised me. I'd gone through it on a smaller scale at Southern Miss. So I'd been through that a little bit in terms of the dual duties that I have. Obviously, there's more media attention. That doesn't surprise you. But you're more tied up with things that can take you a little bit away from football. Not that this isn't what we do, obviously, but nothing has really surprised me. I'll tell you what, I wouldn't say it's been a surprise. It'd be unfair to say it's a surprise. But it has been so cool to come to work every day with the guys we have in that locker room and the staff we have. It has been so cool. How those guys work, how they prepare, the way they're wired, the way they're connected, that's been not surprising, but been really, really cool.
Reporter: You had asked about your pre-game situation today. Have you settled on a message that you wanted to give the team before the week one?
Monken: No, I hadn't settled on what I was gonna say today when I walked in here. So let alone 24 hours from now, or excuse me, 48 hours from now. So no, we're gonna be way beyond what we say in the locker room, right? It's the work that we've put in, the belief we have in each other. We're in this, the season is a marathon. So like I always tell the players, man, you've got a verbal contract for me. I got your back, and that's a verbal contract. We got each other's back through the thick and thin. That's what I love about our guys.
Reporter: It's made of halftime adjustments in games, in our sphere, amongst fans, and things like that. We hear over the years that maybe that's not as much reality from your perspective. Just what is your perspective on the whole halftime adjustment thing when you're in the heat of the moment, whether you're up or you're down in a game?
Monken: Well, to say that the halftime adjustments would mean more than in between series, which would seem kind of weird, right? Wouldn't it? Like they're series to series. So our game is different than say basketball. Unless there's a timeout, it's constant what? Flow, right? Where we have plays. And then one side of the ball is on the field. Where in basketball, they play offense and defense, right? There's almost no stoppage. We're here, there's stoppage. So, do I think that at halftime gathering information, or talking to your team, and maybe calming them down, right? And just resetting where you're at, but what is it? What is halftime, 13 minutes for God's sakes? It's like 13 minutes. I mean, by the time you run in there, and you're out of breath, and you get a few thoughts, you run back out, and you talk to some reporter, and you're like, here we go again. It's like really the most time you have is in between series, is where you have the most time to really kind of think through, like what did we wanna get to, right? Now, sometimes that break helps you, right? Like sometimes, thank God halftime came, boy, we needed just a reset of just, okay. Let's take the field again and get after it. But again, I wouldn't say it's overrated. What I would say is that every moment in between series, cuz you're really not talking in between plays. But once the series ends, okay, what do we wanna get to, right? Offensively or defensively, where are we at, talking to your guys? That's as important as anything.
Reporter: Ty, you had mentioned that Taylor and Chidor will be splitting the show team reps. Just wondering what kind of a job they did in terms of simulating Trevor Lawrence for the defense, how did that all go?
Monken: Well, they did a great job with it. First of all, it's hard to simulate any elite player in the NFL. Like it doesn't, I mean, and he's an elite football player. So it's hard to simulate the way he does it, cuz he's one of one. But just like every quarterback is, they're one of one, they're themselves. As a former coach, I used to work for, I used to say, be yourself. That other person's taken, and Trevor Lawrence, it's hard to be him. But I thought both of them did a great job of giving looks as best they could for our defense.
Reporter: How do you handle things like fourth down decisions and things like that? Do you have some of these specific improvements in your career? How do you kind of figure that out?
Monken: Yeah, Austin's up there with us, but it's not, there's a part of the analytics that comes into play. And there's also like where you're at in the game, right? You're no different than I would be like, hey, what do you think here? Where are we at on the field, right? Where is the game going? Like how do we feel, right, I'll just cause a quarterback playing, right? How are we playing up front? It's a lot easier to go for fourth and one if you feel like you're moving people off the ball, right? There's moments like that, or we're offensively your decision to go for it. But ultimately, it's hard to score without the ball. So you've just seen it more and more. You have to be ready to defend four thousand, you have to be ready to go for it, I mean, that's nothing new. That has been coming over the years. So in sequencing of your plays and putting yourself in position to go for it when needed is a big part of where the game's gone.
Reporter: They showed a booth there. I guess there's some new green tablet or whatever that the league is providing coaching staffs or whatever that gives you even more advanced in-game information. What's your view on that? Like who's going to handle that for you on your staff?
Monken: Well, it's not that much more information. I mean, they throw it out there like it is. How about we just go to video? How about we just cut all the crap and go to video where you can see the video like every other level does now? We tested it out like in, I don't know what it was all the way back, maybe in 16 or something, we tested it out. And so it's information, but it's not nearly as far along as you'd like. And ultimately, the pictures are the biggest thing that you get out of it, of what you're seeing, and at some point I'm sure we'll get the video.
Reporter: That's where I mean, do you try to find some time to just kind of disconnect a little bit, step away from, kind of just separate from it a little bit and take your mind off of the game and kind of get away for a little bit?
Monken: Well, yeah, there's a part of that. I think that's a great question. There is a part of it that everything's really kind of put to bed. You've already had the team meeting, right? You've already spoke to the offense. You've prepped, you've already got the call sheet done. In your mind, you're kind of going through scenarios and calls and what you want to get to, but I mean, I've got a lot of people that I'm friends with and family that like to come to games, and I love to see them. I think that's one of the coolest things of coaching at a high level is a lot of people want to come see you play. Not many of them came when I was at Grand Valley State. I'll just put it that way. But when you elevate in the profession, you get a lot more people that show up, and that is really cool. It really is. You end up staying close with friends and family and people that want to enjoy it with you, and that's really cool, and I enjoy that part of it. And it does take my mind off a little bit because sometimes that's not bad, right, getting your mind off it. I mean, you're on go from the start of the week. But then once the next day, the morning, you wake up, now it's time, right? I don't really visit with most people the day of the game, and then you really get your mind on the task at hand. Let's go play, and let's see where we're at as coaching and playing. Let's see where we're at.
