Monken keeps message simple, direct

BEREA — Todd Monken has five months before his first game as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. However, two traits have been apparent since he was introduced Feb. 3. Monken tries to keep his message and goals simple. When asked what his message was as the Browns began their offseason workout program, Monken said Wednesday, "We're in the development business and the winning business. Point blank, period." Reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett was among the players not in attendance. However, he typically doesn't show up until late in OTAs or the mandatory minicamp. Monken and his staff have plenty to accomplish over the next two months. Most notably, they must determine who has the edge at quarterback heading into training camp. Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel are in attendance for the first week of the voluntary workouts. Sanders started last season's final seven games, going 3-4 with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Watson has gone 9-10 as Cleveland's starter with 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 80.7 passer rating. He has not played since Week 7 of the 2024 season after tearing his Achilles tendon twice. Gabriel started six games, going 1-5 with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. "There's enough there to really like Deshaun and the way he plays. There's enough there to really like the way Shedeur played at the back end of the year. And there's enough early in the year from Dillon that is playing the position at a very high level," Monken said. "Someone's going to have to start off first, and someone's going to go second, and someone's going to go third. Then we'll be willing to switch that. That's easily, on a daily basis, what we see, just like any position, that's not set in stone." In addition to getting up to speed on the playbook, Monken said the important thing in the first two weeks is for players to work on their individual techniques before honing in on the scheme. Monken also has to deal with the perception that the Browns are a dysfunctional organization that cannot get simple things right. This flared up again at last week's league meetings when Monken missed the coach's photo because he was getting a haircut during it. Monken is the seventh coach hired by Dee and Jimmy Haslam since they bought the franchise in 2012. The Browns have a 73-139-1 regular-season record since 2013, the second-worst mark in the NFL. Cleveland has just four winning seasons since returning to the NFL in 1999. Monken said he did not care about the criticism and claimed the meeting was moved up. "Was it disappointing? You bet your (butt) it was disappointing. Waited my whole life to be a head coach, and I'm not in the head coaches' picture? You think with AI, they could have done that quickly and got me in there? But no, it's the way it is," he said. "What changes everything? Winning changes everything. I told the coaches that the other day, right? That's what we have to do. It's real simple."