Todd Monken Details Browns' Interception Surge in Training Camp

Todd Monken has been an offensive football coach for 35 years, so he knows what is behind the anatomy of an interception.

Monken marveled at the the Cleveland Browns defensive backs' dominance in picking off 12 passes over the first week-plus of camp, including Thursday.

The Browns, of course, are in the midst of a quarterback competition between 2025 fifth-round pick Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, who missed all of last season. Dillon Gabriel, the No. 3 QB on the depth chart, also is in the mix for that role.

Todd Monken Broke Down Why the Browns Have 12 Interceptions in Practice

Most days, the Browns defense is better than their offense. To Monken, part of that is what is behind their ball-hawking in practice and part of it is due to his ongoing offensive-install process.

"Some of it's part of [the install]," Monken told reporters Thursday. "I mean 12 interceptions; you're looking at probably all of the above. Really good players, one of them is Denzel [Ward] making a great play. Some fall under the umbrella of pressure, quarterback's under duress."

Sanders had just 10 interceptions in eight games last season. Plus, Watson's rustiness comes into play too, and he also had five batted balls and three picks in just seven games in 2024.

Watson also had batted ball that resulted in a pick in practice Wednesday.

"Sometimes it's a misread, sometimes it's a poor call that didn't put them in a very advantageous position," Monken said. "Sometimes you get a tipped ball, quarterback doesn't keep it neck-down underneath, and the ball gets tipped against zone defense.

"So, it's really all of the above, but disguises are part of that, and really good football players are a part of that."

The Browns' Ball-Hawking Fired Up Defensive Backs Coach Brandon Lynch

The Browns' 12 camp interceptions are an important number because they only had 11 INTs during the regular season last year.

But to Monken's point, there are elite players on Cleveland's pass defense, which is why it was third in the NFL in 2025.

"We say rush and coverage work together, so it's a combination of one plus one equaling three," Browns defensive backs coach Brandon Lynch told reporters Thursday. "Our rush getting home, our linebackers doing exactly what they need to do, our safeties getting us in the right coverages and then our corners executing.

"So, when you think about just schematically the 12 interceptions, it's really everybody doing their job and working on the precision and being precise."

Lynch is also the Browns' passing-game coordinator, and he is a rare incumbent under Monken and first-year Cleveland defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg. The heavy volume of interceptions is the Browns DBs fulfilling a preseason philosophy to Lynch.

"We talk about endurance and precision," Lynch said. "Everybody in the league has talent and passion, so we want to really focus on our endurance and precision."