Todd Monken has created a worthwhile culture shift with the Cleveland Browns, who are no longer seen as pushovers by the rest of the NFL. But there were always going to be growing pains attached to that, and the Browns found that out the hard way in a discouraging 27-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Afterward, the Steelers admitted they were motivated by the trash talk uttered by Jared Verse leading up to the game. The defensive end called Pittsburgh a dirty team after Cleveland’s Week 4 win, and he said he was looking forward to dominating the Steelers in the rematch.
Instead, Verse managed just one tackle and was flipped head over heels during an extra point. His teammates didn’t pick him up, either, with the offense allowing eight sacks of Deshaun Watson and the defense giving up 200 yards on the ground.
A day after another defiant postgame press conference, Monken took a more measured approach on Monday, with an honest admission about the loss to the Steelers. He admitted the team wasn’t very poised.
“That was the message all week. It’ll continue to be our message each week, and that is ‘speak with your play.’ I’ll leave it at that,” Monken said.
#Browns Todd Monken said “we weren’t very poised” vs. the #Steelers. Also, “speak with your play.” pic.twitter.com/Ui2jbD4a0q
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) November 2, 2026
Monken is at least in part to blame for what happened off the field, as his profane response to remarks by Mike Tomlin earlier this season set the tone for the Browns’ surprisingly good start. In this case, that rebellious attitude cost them against a veteran team that didn’t need any more fuel after losing to Cleveland 27-24 one month ago.
It would be hard for Monken to reel in his players at this point, because he has been one of the biggest talkers about the Browns’ burgeoning new personality. Now, he faces the biggest test of his first season as an NFL head coach, trying to get his team to respond before things start to spiral. Unfortunately, the Browns don’t have many veteran players who have been through this before to lean on.
Dealing with success can sometimes be more difficult than living with failure, and Cleveland is about to find out which way its season is going to go.
NEXT: Former Player Sends A Stern Message To Jared Verse
