In his first preseason game as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Todd Monken’s offense got the ball first. It was largely his starters against Chicago’s second unit, and unsurprisingly based on Monken’s messaging throughout training camp, he looked to set an early tone by running the football.
The Browns took the field in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) and fed the ball to Quinshon Judkins on their first three plays. The third of which was a bit of a statement by Monken on third-and-2, but Judkins was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by old friend Devin Bush for no gain, forcing the Browns to punt following a quick three-and-out.
It was a sign of things to come. Cleveland didn’t have its full group of offensive linemen for this game, but it did have its five projected starters. No matter the combination or who was up in the backfield, the Browns couldn’t get anything going on the ground.
In the first half, Browns running backs rushed for 19 yards on 11 carries. The team’s lone explosive with starters on the field came on a jet sweep by wide receiver KC Concepcion, who made an elite play to keep his balance along the sideline and find the front pylon for Cleveland’s lone touchdown.
It didn’t get much better in the second half. Undrafted rookie Davon Booth rushed for 50 yards on the game’s final drive with the clock running out and Chicago leading 34-10. If you remove garbage time, Concepcion’s contribution, and scrambles from the quarterbacks, Cleveland’s top four backs of Judkins, Dylan Sampson, Raheim Sanders, and Ahmani Marshall rushed 16 times for 28 yards and an average of 1.75 yards per carry.
That’s not good. And when you consider a portion of those carries came with Cleveland’s starters going against mostly Bears backups, it’s even more concerning.
“We certainly didn’t run it very well," Monken said after the game. "Guys, you’re not going to score a lot if you can’t run the football. I mean, you can’t control the game. I mean we kept ourselves in long-yardage situations and that’s going to be very difficult. I give the quarterbacks a lot of credit for what we put them through, in terms of the down and distances we had.”
Todd Monken just got a new point of emphasis entering preseason Week 2
The Browns have done a ton of offensive line shuffling throughout the spring and summer, so it’s not a major surprise that they weren’t firing on all cylinders to open the preseason.
The only staples have been Tytus Howard at right tackle and Zion Johnson at left guard. The Browns have been rotating players at the other positions, especially at center with both Elgton Jenkins and Parker Brailsford missing recent practice time with injuries.
Cleveland’s top projected unit of Spencer Fano at left tackle, Johnson at left guard, Elgton Jenkins at center, Teven Jenkins at right guard, and Howard at right tackle started against the Bears. All but Fano exited after two series, with Monken wanting to keep his top left tackle in the game as Watson finished out the first half.
Entering a big week, with regular training camp practices Monday through Wednesday, a joint practice with the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, and then the preseason home opener on Saturday, it might be time for Monken to get that starting group as many quality reps together as possible.
It’s hard enough for a brand-new group of offensive linemen to jell given the lack of fully-padded practices in the spring. The Browns are quickly running out of time with the regular season opener now less than a month away.
Saturday’s poor performance was on the backs, too. Judkins and Sampson rushed for a combined 15 yards on eight carries, with Sampson doing his only damage on a screen pass that he turned into a 43-yard explosive play.
It was far from perfect, but the Browns did enough in the passing game to feel like some building blocks are already in place.
The running game remains at ground zero, and it’s now the one area that has to improve entering Bills week.
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