Everyone knew a completely rebuilt offensive line wasn’t going to click overnight. New pieces need time to learn each other, find their rhythm, and figure things out. But for Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken, that patience has been tested. The struggles have brought frustration and disappointment, and over time, his patience has started to wear thin.

By the time the Browns reached their 11th training camp on Monday, all those pent-up feelings finally boiled over. 

“End of #Browns practice,” reported Cleveland.com reporter Ashley Bastock on August 10. “One minute end of half situation. Sanders up first and the drive ends with three straight false starts on the line.

“Watson next and after two completions, a sack, an illegal formation and a false start. Monken ended practice and looked like he threw something.”

As reported by The Gazette, Monken ended practice throwing his radio in frustration.

Here’s what took place: On Monday, Sanders connected with Jerry Jeudy and the offensive line appeared to commit two straight false starts. It led Monken to send the unit off the field before the session ended. Rookie left tackle Spencer Fano’s penalty proved to be the breaking point.

But not everything was bad for Sanders on Day 11. For instance, he looked more decisive and didn’t hang onto the ball as much. He seemed to dropback, and make quick but calculated decisions. He also made some solid throws, but back-to-back false starts later irked the coach.

With his patience already running thin, the head coach might have hoped to see better things from quarterback Deshaun Watson hitting the gridiron next. But the woes continued as the veteran player and the second team struggled equally. 

Watson completed consecutive passes to Tylan Wallace, but the possession was then derailed by an apparent illegal formation and another false start.

The veteran scored two touchdowns, but his throws were a mix of good and bad ones, and it was clear that it wasn’t his best day out there. 

Monken’s outburst came after he made a last-minute decision to make Watson take all the reps with the first-team offense in Saturday’s practice, when it was Sanders’ turn. Naturally, the decision had put Monken on the hot seat. 

Then Came the Todd Monken Backlash

Shannon Sharpe said on the August 10 episode of the Nightcap podcast: “I’m just trying to figure out why you want to see him (Watson) in personnel groupings when it’s my day? When it’s his day, now you can see.”

While Monday was a chance for Watson to make Monken proud, he failed to do so. And the tension of the Day 11 training camp spilled over during the post-training presser. During the interview, reporter Jeff Schudel asked the head coach to clarify whether his last-minute decision was about him believing Watson was better than Shedeur.

“Oh, I don’t think I said he’s better than Shedeur. I’m not sure I went that far, but I appreciate you trying to trap me in that s***,” Monken said.

During the same presser, he clarified that the competition is “close” and added that the quarterback who is held out of the preseason opener will start the team’s next home game. He reiterated that the quarterback competition in Cleveland was still on for now. 

Fight for QB1 position

After Watson received all the first-team reps on Saturday, ESPN’s Aaron Goldhammer speculated that Sanders could be traded.

“I think what is happening here is that Todd Monken does not trust Shedeur Sanders to consistently get the team in and out of the huddle on a regular basis. That’s why he’s playing a guy who is a pariah in the town in which he is employed.”

Monken, however, offered a different explanation for the sudden switch. According to him, Sanders had already worked with the starting offense. The decision to give Watson the first-team reps was therefore made to balance out the overall distribution of snaps.

Monken made it clear that the decision was simply a call made on the field, and not some grand announcement that Watson had officially won the QB1 job.

“As long as we’re still sharing reps, it’s a competition,” Monken made it all clear.

For now, Monken has set things up for both quarterbacks to get a preseason start. The real decision will come after they’ve each had their turn under center, when the Browns finally name their true starter.