Week 1 in the NFL has a way of distorting everything. One lopsided result can send a fan base into a panic, and for a first-year head coach, it can invite questions about whether the plan was ever going to work. Todd Monken got a heavy dose of that after the Browns were embarrassed in Jacksonville to open the season. Nearly a month later, he was able to look back on that day from a very different spot.
Monken revealed his honest thoughts about the Browns’ 3-1 start to the season.
“I’m human. If you said that’s the way we’d start the season after the way we’ve worked, I would’ve said you’re nuts. And if you said we’d be 3-1 after that first game, I’d say you’re nuts, but that’s a credit to our players because all they do is just work. They didn’t blink. That week after was a little chippy, and that was a good thing. They were not happy with the way we played, and sometimes, that’s good,” Monken said.
“I’m human. If you said that’s the way we’d start the season after the way we’ve worked, I’d would’ve said you’re nuts…and if you said we’d be 3-1 after that first game I’d say you’re nuts, but that’s a credit to our players.”#Browns head coach Todd Monken on whether he ever… pic.twitter.com/0oc5FfS16Z
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) October 2, 2026
Coaches rarely admit that a season opener caught them off guard, but the 34-10 loss to the Jaguars was about as discouraging as a debut gets.
The turnaround since then has been remarkable. Cleveland beat Tampa Bay, Carolina and Pittsburgh in succession, and each victory came down to a go-ahead drive in the 4th quarter. The Browns are 3-1 for the first time since 2021 and only the 4th time since 2000.
The chippy week of practice Monken described may explain a lot. Teams that lose by 24 points on opening day can go one of 2 ways: either accepting it as a preview of the season or getting angry about it. His players chose the second option, and that edge has shown up in every close finish since.
The context makes the run even more impressive. Cleveland finished last in the AFC North in 2025, and the Browns entered this season with some of the longest championship odds in the league. Monken was also making a quarterback call that much of the fan base disagreed with, choosing Deshaun Watson over Shedeur Sanders in his first season as an NFL head coach.
That decision looked shaky after Week 1. It looks much different now, with Watson leading 3 straight winning drives and praising Monken for believing in the entire roster.
There is still plenty to clean up. The Browns were flagged 14 times for 88 yards on Thursday, a week after Monken publicly called out the penalties that nearly cost them against Carolina. A young team that keeps winning through its own mistakes is encouraging, but that margin will not hold up forever.
The challenge now shifts. Monken has seen how this team responds when everyone counts it out. With the Browns alone atop the AFC North, Mason Graham’s knee injury hanging over the defense and a trip to face the New York Jets on October 11, the next test is how it handles being the team everyone else is chasing.
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