The Cleveland Browns did something that appeared almost unthinkable after the way the team looked in Week 1 against the Jaguars in Jacksonville: They went back to Florida and won an NFL football game, pulling off a rain-soaked, lightning-delayed victory over Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers, 23-19. It was the first win of the NFL head-coaching career for Todd Monken, as well as the culmination of a two-year comeback for quarterback Deshaun Watson.
But while Monken certainly savored the win after he’d been much-criticized in the days leading up to the game, his message to the team will not be one of chest-thumping or trash-talking the naysayers. He is already focused on Week 3.
He said this week that his message to the Browns players about the win will be, “So what? Now what?”
Browns’ Todd Monken: ‘It’s Week to Week’
That’s what Monken told Browns reporters this week after the team returned to Cleveland.
Said Monken: “And I’m really proud of the guys, this isn’t about me, it never has been, wherever I’ve been, it’s about the players. It’s a players’ game, and we got a lot to clean up, coaching and playing, and we took a giant step from week one to week two. So that’ll be the message we come back Wednesday is, ‘So what, now what?’ Are we willing to take that same jump? Or is it now, all of a sudden, we’ve arrived, because it’s week to week.”
Panthers Are Favored in Week 3
Certainly, Week 3 figures to be a fascinating one for the team, as they return home for their debut in front of their own fans–with Deshaun Watson at quarterback, after he faced boos in the preseason and called out Browns fans for it in a controversial press conference. The Browns will get the Panthers, who opened as 1.5-point favorites in the game, though the spread has bumped up to as many as 3.0 points.
Said Monken: “You guys saw the scores, you guys know how this goes, every team’s a different matchup, and we didn’t turn the ball over, which helped us. In that first game we turned it over two of the first four drives, so basically, so what, now what? What are we going to do this week to continue to improve? And we got the right guys to do it, that’s what I love about our group, because they’re going to be ready to go to work on Wednesday.”
Browns’ Todd Monken Delivers Strong 4-Word Message Before Week 3