There weren’t a lot of positive things to take away from the Cleveland Browns’ season-opening blowout at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Both sides of the ball were stuck in the mud en route to the 34-10 bludgeoning, and the big question now is what is going to be done to get this team headed in a better direction.
One of the few positive developments was the fact that the offensive line graded out to have a solid day according to the advanced metrics. It didn’t always look that way in real time since Deshaun Watson was sacked five times and the running game didn’t have a particularly great day with 87 yards on 22 carries, nearly half of which came from Watson’s six scrambles.
Head coach Todd Monken must have liked what he saw when he rewatched the film because he announced a notable change on Wednesday. Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot shared that Monken sees rookie right guard Austin Barber as the starting right guard even when Teven Jenkins comes back.
“Browns Todd Monken said he ‘sees it that way’ that rookie Austin Barber will start at right guard even when Teven Jenkins is healthy,” Cabot posted.
#Browns Todd Monken said he "sees it that way" that rookie Austin Barber will start at right guard even when Teven Jenkins is healthy.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) September 16, 2026
Barber was thrust into his first career start after Jenkins left practice with a back injury last week, and by all accounts, he did a solid job. Both he and fellow rookie Spencer Fano showed plenty of promise in their first games and hopefully they can continue to build on those performances.
Watson shoulders plenty of the blame for the five sacks because there were multiple instances of him operating out of the shotgun and still opting to take seven-step drops, oftentimes leaving him about 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage. It’s impossible for an offensive line to form a pocket around him if he’s going to do that, so it’s surely an issue Monken will work with him to clean up.
It has to be a bummer for Jenkins, who signed a one-year deal this offseason and was atop the depth chart as the starter all summer. All he needs to focus on right now is getting healthy and being ready when his number is called because it’s a long season and the Browns will certainly need him at some point.
NEXT: Insider Raises Question About Browns' Plans With Deshaun Watson
