The saying goes that practice makes perfect, but for the Cleveland Browns, practice may have made a mess instead. It is the primary reason that Todd Monken remains so vehement in his support of quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has allegedly been very good when competing only against his teammates.
Ironically, it was at practice where Monken made his mark as a potential bright spot as a first-time NFL head coach. During his earliest workouts in charge, his culture-building and demand for accountability were considered a necessary change for the beleaguered franchise.
Since then, things have noticeably gone downhill, culminating in an awful 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the season opener on Sunday. Monken’s job may already be in jeopardy, and he will be severely tested trying to turn things around on the fly.
Cleveland legend Hanford Dixon recently pointed to the Browns’ major practice problem, which is an issue shared around the league, and that is the absence of hitting and full-pad practices.
“Carson Schwesinger, you could tell that he hasn’t been practicing. You know what I put all this on, and I blame all this on? Practice. Because when you’re practicing these guys, they don’t hit. They don’t practice really, really, hard because they won’t let them do anything in practice. I think it shows up in the game, especially early in the season,” Dixon said.
"Carson Schwesinger, you could tell that he hasn't been practicing. You know what I put all this and I blame all this on? Practice. Because when you're practicing these guys, they don't hit." #DawgPound
– @HanfordDixon29 pic.twitter.com/3iSRqliR2p
— BIGPLAY Cleveland (@BIGPLAYcle) September 15, 2026
To be fair, Schwesinger sat out most of training camp reportedly with a shoulder injury. It would have been negligent to ask him to practice when he wasn’t 100 percent, but he did manage to lead the Browns with 10 combined tackles to go along with one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit on Sunday.
As another counterpoint, the Jaguars must adhere to the same practice rules as the Browns do, and it didn’t seem to bother them at all. Jacksonville’s offense scored on its first four possessions, and its defense held Cleveland to 95 total yards in the first half and 100 yards passing over the first three quarters. The Jaguars built a 31-0 lead and didn’t give up a touchdown until there was less than two minutes left in the game.
So maybe the Browns need to focus on a related saying and hope that “Practice makes progress” as they look to improve for their Week 2 game against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this coming Sunday.
NEXT: Browns' Loss To Jaguars Had One Silver Lining
