The regular season hasn’t even begun, and the Dawg Pound is finding more reasons to be furious with Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken. First, it was the indecision at quarterback. Then, it was naming 30-year-old Deshaun Watson the starter for the year instead of second-year QB Shedeur Sanders. The latest heat he’s facing comes from his September 1st presser, where he admitted he hadn’t watched Watson’s tape.

“I really, to be honest, haven’t looked at it,” Monken said. “To be honest, only from afar. When people say, ‘You had to look at it,’ well, not really. I looked at it from afar when I was down the road. In crossover film or something, but I try to take everything at face value. What I see, right?”

But when these comments landed on 92.3 The Fan, radio host Ken Carman didn’t want to read too much into them and made the case that Coach Monken could have just been lying to the media.

“This is why I try not to get so worked up about every single press conference that happens because you don’t win, people get mad at you, and then they go for your explanation,” Carman said. “And if you explain it and you overexplain it, boy, you’re gonna get killed for it. So, I’m gonna try to give them the benefit of the doubt because we haven’t played a football game yet.

“That I think he was just lying to everybody – which you are more than welcome to do as a head coach of an NFL football team. You don’t need to sit there and tell the media the truth. I know that that’s a strong accusation, but I’m not saying that he has the obligation to tell us the absolute truth. You can always get through it and say whatever you want to say.”

Now, when Todd Monken came to the Browns this offseason, the open competition he declared between all the quarterbacks felt like a breath of fresh air. But even as Shedeur Sanders continued to improve and outperform everyone throughout camp, Monken made the call to give Watson the QB1 role. That decision itself has been scrutinized and criticized by the media and the fanbase on multiple occasions by now. But even in the face of Watson’s offseason struggles, Monken has continued to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“It doesn’t matter what the player is, I think we owe that to our players, guys that are on the roster,” Monken continued in his recent presser. “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. That’s what I’m going to go into it – they’re on an NFL roster, I expect them to play well, and I just want them to prove me right. And so, I really haven’t really looked at that – different staff, different system. We’ll let it play out. We’ll see where it goes starting a week from now.”

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio calls Deshaun Watson’s performance from his Houston Texans days “ancient history.” Even if you look at the four years he did spend with Cleveland, there’s only 19 games worth of tape there, and it’s not very good. Furthermore, those tapes are from before Watson ruptured his Achilles – twice. The 30-year-old player who suited up for the Browns’ preseason games last month cannot realistically be the same player Cleveland traded for six draft picks (three first-rounders). And even as Todd Monken faces heat for his decision, he had already spoken about Watson’s tapes months ago.

Even at the NFL owners’ meeting that ran from March 29th to April 1st, he made it clear he hadn’t watched Watson’s past tapes. On Monday, 31st March, ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi followed up with Monken about his comment, and the new head coach said something quite similar, but admitted he had watched some tapes at least.

“I just haven’t drilled down into that. Have I watched a little bit of it? Of course, but there’s also some aspects of it, so I would say this: We have crossover tape. Have I seen Deshaun Watson play before? Of course,” Monken said, per Oyefusi. “I saw him play against us when I was in Baltimore. Did we play the Cowboys two years ago after Cleveland opened up the season with Dallas? Yes. Is that a great film to watch Deshaun Watson on? Absolutely not. I mean, that was not a fun tape to watch. To try and look at that film and say, ‘That’s Deshaun Watson’ is unfair.

“So, I think you want a little bit, because I don’t know the system they changed to when Ken Dorsey came in and what they were running; I don’t know that. I don’t know what they were asking him to do. Or the year before, when the Browns came over and beat the Ravens there. I don’t know that. I just know what I’ve seen over the years. I’ve seen a really good football player. And we’re hoping to be able to tap into that. I know he’s excited and we’re excited to work with him.”

A lot has happened since then. Moving past Watson’s preseason performance and offseason struggles, Todd Monken must have seen something in Watson that earned him the starting job. Whether it’s the $40.2M cap hit he carries this year, or the crossover tapes Monken says he watched, the fact is that Watson’s the starter. The questions around this decision will continue – especially if Watson struggles in the regular season. But as Ken Carman notes, Monken doesn’t have to be completely truthful about his decisions all the time. The only tape that will really matter is the one Watson shows us a week from now.