The knee-jerk reaction to Todd Monken being named head coach of the Cleveland Browns over Jim Schwartz was met with major skepticism from fans. To Monken’s credit, he eased some of those fears once he hit the podium and started delivering his vision for the team and its young roster.
The honeymoon phase is long over, though, and Monken’s messaging is suddenly all over the place. It's getting to the point where fans don’t even know what to believe.
Browns beat reporter Daniel Oyefusi pointed out one example from Monken’s virtual press conference on Monday. He was asked about the defense’s brutal season debut against the Jacksonville Jaguars, specifically its struggles with missed tackles. According to Next Gen Stats, the Browns had 17 missed tackles in the 34-10 blowout. That was the NFL’s second-worst mark across the board in Week 1.
Puzzlingly, Monken watched the film and told reporters that he didn’t think missed tackles were a problem in the game.
“I thought in the open field, I thought our guys did a really good job of tackling," he said. "Now, there were a couple moments inside where their ball carriers did a good job of bouncing off tackles, but for the most part, in the open field, I thought our tackling was fine. I didn’t see that being as much of an issue as it was in terms of some of the run schemes that they had dialed up, that they were able to get to the second level pretty comfortably. But I did not see missed tackles. Obviously, there’s always going to be some missed tackles involved, but I did not see that as an issue. No.”
Todd Monken's messaging is becoming a problem after Browns' ugly Week 1
Browns fans rallied around Monken’s no-nonsense, tell-it-to-you-straight style throughout the offseason, but that approach appears to have vanished as soon as the season started.
Monken isn’t a defensive guy, but his dismissive comment on the team’s high missed tackle rate isn’t the first example of him gaslighting fans and reporters behind the podium.
In affirming Deshaun Watson as the starter for Week 2 against Tampa Bay, Monken said “there were some really good things on film” from the Jaguars game. No one who watched the game could read that comment with a straight face. The Browns trailed 31-0 in the third quarter and didn’t score a touchdown until garbage time.
Monken also said that he won’t seek the players’ input on who the starting quarterback should be. “Really, to be honest, they don’t have a choice,” the coach said.
Browns reporter Camryn Justice expertly pointed out Monken’s comments on that same topic early in training camp on Aug. 8:
"Who’s got an inner toughness to move the offense and get us in the end zone?” Monken said then. “And then ultimately who does the team believe in? And usually that correlates. The team’s going to believe in the guy that gives us the best chance to score and win."
What changed?
Monken was lauded as the anti-Kevin Stefanski with his messaging back in the spring, but he’s regressing in that area at a scary rate. He’s showing his stripes as a first-year NFL head coach, and his know-it-all delivery as a 60-year-old coaching veteran isn't doing him any favors.
The harsh reality is that 32 teams played a football game last week, and only one of them looked completely lost and not ready to play. It would be a lot easier to write it off as first-game jitters if Monken wasn’t zapping his own credibility at the podium on a daily basis.
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