More blocking and tackling, less gum-flapping. That was, essentially the warning (again) from head coach Todd Monken on Monday after the Cleveland Browns were trounced in Pittsburgh in Week 8 by a 27-6 count. Before the game, much had been said to inflame the longstanding Browns-Steelers rivalry, going back to edge rusher Jared Verse’s insinuation that the Steelers were a dirty team after the won their first matchup in Week 4. That set off a week of volleys between Cam Heyward (and others) and Verse (and others) that did not seem to serve the goals of the Browns particularly well.
All that chatter probably did not have an impact on the scoreboard. But it was a distraction that did not help things for a team like Cleveland, which, even when they were 5-2, has a very narrow margin for error and does not need to go around poking NFL bears just yet. The Browns looked shaken from the get-go, starting the game with two lost fumbles and a punt, and never really recovered.
Browns Should ‘Speak With Your Play’
In his day-after meeting with Browns reporters, Monken stopped himself from saying more than he wanted to, but his answer to a question about the three late penalties on the team gave him an opening to talk about the Browns’ lack of composure. Two of the penalties–on Sam Williams and on Quinshon Judkins–were for taunting, while down, 27-6. The third was a roughing call on Quincy Williams.
Said Monken: ““Well, we weren’t very poised, and we didn’t keep our composure. And you are how you play, not how you talk. And that was the message all week. It’ll continue to be the message each week, and that is speak with your play. I’ll leave it at that.”
Todd Monken Sees Situation as ‘Pretty Cool’
Monken did suggest, though, that the Browns are in a positive spot, to be 5-3, but that he hopes they don’t let the sting of the Week 8 loss leave them too quickly.
“Today is the day you look at it and say, OK, where can we improve coaching and playing?” Monken said. “And that’s when you look at it today and then you flush it and you say, ‘We’re 5-3.’ And it’s good to have high expectations. This is a good spot to be in. To be disappointed that you’re not 6-2 and that you didn’t find a way to win the game on the road and be 3-0 in the division. That’s really cool in my mind.
“So, I told them, I said, ‘It’s really cool. You’ve earned that. You’ve earned the other five wins. We also earned the way we played yesterday, and we weren’t poised and we weren’t composed, and we earned that. And you earn it every week.’ But what are we going to do? We’re going to circle the wagons, figure out what we can fix, get after it on Wednesday, flush it today, get after it Wednesday, and take another step forward for us to play better football this weekend in New Orleans.”
Browns’ Todd Monken Sends Warning to Team After Week 8 Loss