Todd Monken has quickly established a reputation for being brutally honest with the local media, but it was only a matter of time before the Cleveland Browns’ first-year head coach put his foot in his mouth.
That may have happened this week on a question about Deshaun Watson’s previous 19 games in Cleveland as the Browns’ starting quarterback. Fans don’t need an NFL film expert to go back and review Watson’s performance. It was brutal.
Browns fans should, however, expect their head coach to study Watson’s game tape to get a feel for his tendencies and figure out the best way to coach him.
“I really, to be honest, haven’t looked at it,” Monken said of Watson’s film on Tuesday.
That was obviously one of those truth bombs that can blow up in a coach’s face. During Wednesday morning’s episode of Get Up, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg — typically among the more grounded analysts with his sports takes — almost got up out of his chair after Monken’s presser comments played on the screen.
“May I ask a question: What the hell is he talking about? Is there any way in the world he means that?" Greenberg said on air. "That he is starting a quarterback on Sunday [Sept. 13] in his first game as a head coach in the NFL — he is an offensive coach — and he has not watched tape of that player from previous years before? Whether this is the greatest player of all time or the worst player of all time, does that make any sense at all?”
Todd Monken handed critics a talking point he never needed to create
To answer Greenberg's question: of course not.
But while it might not seem believable that Monken hasn’t watched any of Watson’s game film since he took over as head coach of the Browns and conducted a months-long quarterback competition — it almost certainly is.
For better or worse, Monken tells it like it is. This likely won’t be the first time that he paints himself and the team in an odd or negative light, either.
It was coming from a good place. Monken was essentially affirming his message from back when he took the job, when he said he won’t judge the players or come in with preconceived notions.
“I try to take everything at face value, what I see. It doesn’t matter what the player is, I think we owe that to our players, guys that are on the roster. I want to go into it thinking every player we have is elite, and all they have to do is prove me right. That’s all they have to do.”
Todd Monken is learning some harsh lessons the hard way
Monken's heart is clearly in the right place, but it would do the Browns some good to remove all truth serum from the team facility immediately.
The question Monken was asked on Watson was typical of modern media — it wasn’t direct. He was asked about Watson’s declining average yards per target numbers. The reporter added a qualifier — ”I don’t know how much time you’ve spent watching some of the old stuff” — but the question circled back to why Watson’s “explosive stuff has dipped.”
This is like media relations 101. Monken was given an out. He could have given a non-answer about how he believes in Watson and his comments wouldn’t be occupying a full segment on ESPN on Wednesday morning. Instead, he went on a tangent about how he’s only watched Watson’s game tape “from afar” and in “crossover film or something.”
It really was an asinine comment after Monken ignored Watson’s brutal preseason performance against the Bills’ second- and third-stringers and still named him the starting quarterback for Week 1 at Jacksonville.
He probably didn’t realize he was gifting a money quote to reporters until after the fact. It stands as a harsh lesson learned.
But the Browns are a rightful punchline over this one — if for no other reason than that Monken was almost certainly telling the honest truth.
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