Todd Monken officially named Deshaun Watson the Browns’ starting quarterback on Monday, but then went and gave what seemed like third-string QB Dillon Gabriel first-team reps with the starters on Tuesday. Seriously, what even is going on in Cleveland? It feels like the Browns were the center of the football universe for about 48 hours, and for all the wrong reasons.
Monken’s Confusing Timeline
Let’s rewind this chaotic tape. It all kicked off with a genuinely poor performance from Cleveland in their second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Then, Watson held a press conference that, frankly, looked like it might completely torpedo any shot he had at starting. You’d think that would be enough drama, right? Nope. Coach Monken, in a move that nobody saw coming after that presser, named Watson the starter over Shedeur Sanders on Monday. Talk about a whirlwind! Oh, and amidst all this, TE Dae’Quan Wright is now apparently set to make some football history, but only because the Browns *released* him. Wild.
Then Monken drops another bomb: Watson and Sanders won’t even play in the final preseason game. That means QBs Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green get the spotlight. On top of that, Monken announced the starters wouldn’t be playing on Thursday either. The whole focus, he said, was on guys fighting to make the roster. So, Watson is the starter, but he’s not playing with the starters in the game or practicing with them on Tuesday? It makes zero sense, and that’s where the real head-scratching started.
Why the First-Team Reps for Gabriel?
Here’s the kicker, the play that has everyone scratching their heads: Monken himself said he wanted to name the starting quarterback early to give him time to gel with the other starters before Week 1. That’s a reasonable plan, right? But then, on Tuesday, after installing Watson as the starter, what did we see? The third-string quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, was getting reps with the starters. Yes, you read that right. The “ones” were running plays with Gabriel, seemingly for the first time.
So, is Monken preparing just in case Gabriel has to step in at some point this year? Don’t Watson and the actual starters need every single rep they can get together right now? If the guy named starter, Watson, wasn’t going to get all the reps this week anyway, why even bother establishing him as the starter before the third preseason game? Will one Tuesday practice actually make a huge impact on anything? Probably not. But the outcome isn’t the big deal here. The real question, the one that screams frustration, is about the process itself. What was Monken thinking, giving Gabriel reps with the first team, for the first time, after naming Watson the starter, especially when Watson isn’t even playing with them on Thursday? It’s a mess, plain and simple.
The Browns head into their final preseason game with Gabriel and Green playing, and everyone wondering if their actual starter, Watson, is getting the time he needs to connect with his offense before the regular season kicks off. This team is already a puzzle, and Week 1 feels like it’s coming way too fast for all this confusion.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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