Cleveland Browns quarterback decision Todd Monken Shedeur Sanders Deshaun Watson, Digi Mart USA News (Berea, Ohio): The Cleveland Browns lost an overtime heartbreaker Sunday in New Orleans, but their late rally behind Shedeur Sanders may be prompting coach Todd Monken to reconsider the team’s immediate quarterback plans.
Monken told Cleveland reporters Monday afternoon that he had not yet met with the full offensive coaching staff as part of the team’s standard after-game procedure, and that he is not ready to name a starter for Sunday’s home game against the Houston Texans. Deshaun Watson, who started the season’s first eight games, cleared concussion protocol on Saturday but did not play in New Orleans.
The Browns spent the week preparing Sanders to make his first start of the season. After a sluggish first three quarters, the Sanders-led Browns scored on three of their final four possessions of the fourth quarter and overtime before failing on a two-point conversion that sealed a 23-22 Saints victory.
If Monken is willing to rethink the quarterback plan he has followed since the summer, it is because the offense has rarely clicked before the final quarter this season. All five of Cleveland’s wins have come on fourth-quarter drives engineered by Watson, and those comebacks have masked prolonged stretches of poor offense by the Browns, who are the league’s most penalized team.
In New Orleans on Sunday, they had more first-quarter penalty yards (25) than total yards (19). Addressing the ongoing penalty problems, Monken said Monday that “you are what your tape says you are.” The full tape, he suggested, shows the Browns have been inconsistent offensively regardless of who has been at quarterback.
Sanders threw for 197 of his 297 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime, which is likely to fuel further debate. The 5-4 Browns have lost two straight but remain just 1.5 games behind Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the AFC North and one game behind current qualification for one of the AFC’s three wild-card spots.
The Browns have played six of their first nine games on the road, and they lost Sunday in their third straight road game. The team’s bye is set for Week 11.
“We’re right there in the mix, and I do believe our best football is in front of us,” Monken said. “We have our next four at home and a bye week.
It’s all right there in front of us.”
If the Browns fall out of playoff contention later this season, the sensible move would be to replace Watson to further evaluate Sanders. Watson is in the final year of the $230 million contract the Browns gave him after acquiring him in a March 2022 trade, while Sanders is on his standard rookie deal through 2028.
For now, though, the Browns are alive. Though Sanders needed more than three quarters to produce anything in New Orleans, his willingness to throw downfield added a new element to the offense.
Sanders hit rookie Denzel Boston on a 60-yard pass in the first half, then gave the Browns the lead at 13-9 on a 64-yard throw to rookie KC Concepcion in the final six minutes.
“I’m awfully proud of Shedeur,” Monken said. “It had been 10 weeks since he really had reps with the starters in practice.
I was hopeful he would play because he had a great week of practice. I thought he battled and showed composure in the pocket.
He made some plays with his feet. The operation for the most part was clean.
“There was a lot there to like. Certainly a lot to clean up, but a lot to build on.”
The Browns have struggled to protect the quarterback, and their inability to create much in the run game has contributed. Watson has been sacked a league-high 33 times across his eight starts and has been pressured on 40.7 percent of his dropbacks, per TruMedia, the league’s seventh-highest rate among starting quarterbacks.
Sanders was sacked five times by New Orleans but made the day’s best throw under heavy pressure from Saints defensive end Chase Young, connecting with Jerry Jeudy as the Browns set up the game-tying field goal in the final 30 seconds of regulation. Watson has completed 65.5 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and three interceptions, five of those touchdowns coming in fourth quarters, when his passer rating jumps from 98.0 to 106.5.
Monken chose Watson in the summer because he believed his experience would be best for a remade offense facing a road-heavy stretch, and that Watson would shake off rust after two Achilles tendon surgeries and 22 months out. Watson has generally avoided turnovers and made the occasional highlight-reel throw, but his accuracy has been shaky overall.
Browns players are off Tuesday, and the week’s first full practice is set for Wednesday afternoon. Monken said he did not feel pressure to make a decision by Monday or early Tuesday.
Although the upcoming bye week might provide a more natural bridge to a change, Sanders’ play may spark further discussion as the Browns work through the rest of their early-week process.
