The Cleveland Browns have enough negativity coming from their own fans that they really can’t worry about what else is being said on TV. But when one of their most famous former rivals decides to chime in on their sad state of affairs, it’s bound to draw some kind of reaction.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is now part of NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast team. During this week’s pregame show, commenting on highlights of Deshaun Watson’s first-quarter interception against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tomlin took a jab at the AFC North foe.
The comment was, “The Browns is the Browns,” which was hard to dispute after an embarrassing 34-10 loss. The fact that it was head coach Todd Monken’s hand-picked QB choice being mocked had to make it sting even more.
On Monday, Monken reacted to Tomlin’s jab at the Browns, and with his usual ambivalence toward outside noise, he said the best response is to improve on the field.
“Everybody’s afforded their opinions. That’s what you do when you go from coaching to television. We have to own that. We didn’t play very well. That’s one week. That’s not ‘Browns being Browns,’ that’s Browns playing poorly on one week. The only way to change people’s opinion is to play better,” Monken said.
#Browns HC Todd Monken on Mike Tomlin saying “Browns is the Browns” on NBC:
“Everybody’s afforded their opinions. That’s what you do when you go from coaching to television. … It’s one week. That’s not Browns being Browns; that’s Browns playing poorly for one week.” https://t.co/F7meVJ1r0n pic.twitter.com/xu5vEhNMxr
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 15, 2026
There may be some additional history between the former and current coach, as Monken was the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens for the past three seasons. Tomlin and Pittsburgh won five of the six regular-season games between the teams during that time, although Baltimore won the only playoff game.
Tomlin credited the comment to its source, JuJu Smith-Schuster, perhaps to take some of the heat off himself. The former Steelers wide receiver uttered the words in the lead-up to an AFC Wild Card playoff game between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, which the motivated Browns went on to win 48-37.
Afterward, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield yelled the phrase into the camera as he left the field. In the postgame locker room, players mocked Smith-Schuster by imitating his social media dance moves. Unfortunately, Monken is in no position to mention any of that, or bring up the fact that Tomlin did not win any of his final seven playoff games.
But maybe Monken can use this latest exchange as some sort of motivation for the current Browns team, which can use all the help it can get heading into their Week 2 game against Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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