It took just 45 minutes for head coach Todd Monken to change his plans on Saturday. According to reports, the Cleveland Browns head coach told reporters that Shedeur Sanders would receive the first-team reps on Saturday, just 45 minutes before practice. But once practice kicked off, it was veteran quarterback Deshaun Watson who not only took the first set of first-team reps, but every single first-team rep.

As that unfolded, the criticism was evident, and Monken was right at the center of it. Former NFL star Shannon Sharpe called out the head coach and ranted, “Don’t Lie to Your Player,” while others suggested that Monken had already decided on his starting quarterback ahead of the preseason opener. Now, however, the head coach has addressed his earlier change of mind while speaking to reporters.

“It really was, Shedeur on Saturday, took the ones in the walk, so I anticipated being with the ones,” Monken said. “When I walked out, the guys grabbed me and said, ‘Hey, last couple of days, we’ve been looking at it, Shedeur’s got a few more reps with the ones.’ That’s all it was. I was like, ‘Yeah, sure. We’ll flip it, and then next week, we’ll go the other way.’ I sure as hell wasn’t thinking about coming back in here and telling all you guys and I was going to change my mind. I really don’t have to. And so that’s just the way being the head coach, I just do that.”

However, Monken’s latest statement doesn’t align with the Browns’ official explanation. After Saturday’s practice, a team spokesperson admitted that the team wanted to see Watson in certain personnel groupings, leading Monken to take away the first-team reps from Shedeur Sanders. Now, Monken has revealed why Sanders didn’t get the first-team reps, yes. But at the same time, he also mentioned that he can once again change his mind and take away Sanders’ first-team reps on Monday.

“Ultimately, Shedeur is going to go today with the ones unless, on the way out, I change my mind, and then he won’t. Just like any other player in terms of how we rotate them. And the bottom line is, the speculation, which I find kind of funny, is as long as we’re still sharing reps, it’s a competition. It would not make any sense.”

For now, it’s too early to say whether Todd Monken has already decided his starting quarterback. However, the way things are shaping up, Watson seems to have an edge over Sanders for the QB1 role once again. The Browns’ reporter Mary Kay Cabot added another layer to it when she revealed that she’s been told Watson is likely to take the majority of starting reps in padded practices in the coming days.

However, Monken still emphasized how both Sanders and Watson can still win the starting quarterback job.

“I’ve been impressed with all of our quarterback group,” Monken said. “I’ll start with that, but I’ve been impressed with both players and the way they’ve handled the back-and-forth of the reps, and we’re trying as best we can to balance the reps so we give both of them an opportunity to showcase their skill set. It’s never going to be perfect, and they’ve handled that great. Shedeur was great today…And I think they’ve both improved. I’ve always said about Shedeur, but even the last week or so, Deshaun played better. He has played better.”

In the past 10 practices, both quarterbacks had their ups and downs at training camp. On one hand, Shedeur Sanders has completed 140-of-199 passes at a completion rate of 70.9%, while throwing nine touchdowns and just four interceptions. On the other hand, Watson has completed 140-of-219 passes at a completion rate of 63.9%, while throwing 16 touchdowns but eight interceptions. Who will be the QB1 come Week 1, however, remains to be seen.