Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken does not have a firm date for naming his starting quarterback and his only insight was that everyone will know before Week 1.
Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders opened training camp still battling for the job. Monken said their performance over the next several weeks will determine which quarterback leads the Browns into their Sept. 13 opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“The easiest way for me to say that, and it still won’t stop you from asking, not you particularly, but everybody in general, is the first game,” Monken said. “We’re going to have to have a starter for the first game, right? I mean, ultimately, I’m not going to decide who the starter is. They decide by their play. Their play decides who the starter is.
“I don’t have any preconceived notions of how they played in the past or how they’re going to play. I only can, with my eyes, judge. And guys got to play well around them. I think we’ve shored up some things up front. We’ve added some weapons on the perimeter, so I think that’s going to help. But they’ll decide who plays. I don’t decide who plays. The players decide who plays.”
Deshaun Watson Opens Camp With Browns Starters
Watson enters camp attempting to reclaim the starting job after missing all of last season while recovering from multiple Achilles surgeries. Sanders started the final seven games as a rookie but did not play well enough to enter his second season as the unquestioned starter.
Watson received the first opportunity with Cleveland’s starting unit during the opening full-team practice. The Browns used two fields for portions of the session, with Watson working with the starters on one and Sanders working with a group of backups on the other. Dillon Gabriel worked behind Watson, while rookie Taylen Green was paired with Sanders.
As Monken previously noted, Watson and Sanders will alternate days with the starters. That will give both quarterbacks an opportunity to work with Jerry Jeudy, Harold Fannin Jr. and the rest of Cleveland’s primary playmakers.
Watson was in the spotlight working with the first-team offense but threw back-to-back interceptions.
“Browns newly-minted CB Denzel Ward intercepts Deshaun Watson on a pass intended for Wallace. Watson INT on the next play too over the middle by Damarri Mathis,” Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com noted with a clip of practice on X.
Browns Practice Reps Could Reveal QB Winner
Monken may not formally announce his decision until late in the preseason, but he acknowledged the practice distribution could reveal which way the competition is trending.
“As you start to see, as the camp goes on and you start to see less rotation, if you start to see individual players at every position get more reps with the ones, it’s a pretty good sign they’re a one,” Monken said.
Once either Sanders or Watson begins to receive a larger share of the first-team work, it will be a strong indication that the competition is nearing its conclusion — even if no formal announcement is made.
The Browns open their preseason against the Chicago Bears on Aug. 15. They will then hold a joint practice with the Buffalo Bills before hosting them on Aug. 22 and finish the preseason against the New England Patriots on Aug. 27.
Browns Send Strong Message on Naming Starting QB as Camp Opens