Todd Monken’s decision to have Deshaun Watson as the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback was unlikely to be just a one-week proposition, no matter how poorly he played in Week 1. But even in his worst nightmares, Monken could not have anticipated Watson playing as badly as he did against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With mounting proof that Watson isn’t capable of being an NFL quarterback anymore, Monken remains unlikely to change his opinion. He said, “I anticipate Deshaun will be our starter” in Week 2, which is some very curious wording since he is the one who is supposedly making that decision.
But if it were up to analyst Tony Rizzo, that would not be the choice, as he is urging Monken to make a big QB change to Shedeur Sanders for the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
“Monken, you gotta make a change. I gotta see the kid. He hasn’t had first-team reps in a month. I don’t know what to expect from him, but you’ve got to give him the practice week. You have no chance with that offense in Tampa,” Rizzo said.
"Monken you gotta make a change, I gotta see the kid," – Rizz wants to see Shedeur Sanders.
Do you agree? https://t.co/9SqIohQVKi pic.twitter.com/BMn3XXKrTp
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) September 14, 2026
Monken has not shown any sign of being someone who will give in to public opinion. If he were, Watson would never have been given the job in the first place, with his comments about the fans and Sanders’ undeniable popularity already a convincing combination.
In fact, the justified negative reaction to Watson’s performance could cause Monken to dig in his heels even more. In his postgame comments to the media, he dismissed Watson’s tone-setting interception on just the fifth snap of the game against the Jaguars and said there was plenty of blame to go around for the Browns’ embarrassing 34-10 loss.
There is a strong case to be made that Sanders should already be the starter, after Watson showed no ability to get the ball downfield in his two preseason appearances. On Sunday, he had just 100 yards passing in the first three quarters before padding his stats in the fourth quarter after Cleveland trailed 34-3.
The calls for Sanders will grow much louder if Watson has a similar outing against the Buccaneers, but that still might not be enough to convince Monken that a change is needed.
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