Browns HC Todd Monken responds to backlash over embarrassing misunderstanding

New Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken unintentionally became the subject of some embarrassing headlines when it was learned that he missed the NFL head coaches group photo during the recent owners meetings because he was getting a haircut.

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Monken offered somewhat of a defiant response to those who have joked that his not being part of the picture is just the latest "same old Browns" storyline to hover over the organization. 

Todd Monken doesn't care what outsiders have to say about the missed photo

"I really don’t give a s—," Monken said about reactions to missing the photo, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "I mean, nothing to do with me. I mean, they moved the meeting. I didn’t miss it. I was just trying to get a sweet haircut. That’s what I was trying to do. And then they moved the meeting. Now you can claim that I should have been at the meeting when they moved it up, and my a— would have known that’s when it was — yeah, OK, I got you."

Monken, 60, is serving as a head coach at the highest level for the first time in his lengthy career. He's now working for a franchise that has come off four losing seasons in five years, has notched a single playoff victory in the 2000s and has never made a Super Bowl appearance. 

Todd Monken is disappointed about missing the photo

In the end, Browns fans won't care about where Monken was when the photo in question was taken if he guides the franchise to multiple successful seasons. That said, he is a little bummed he wasn't part of the picture as a first-time NFL head coach. 

"And was it disappointing? You bet your a— it was disappointing," Monken added about the schedule mixup. "Am I allowed to be head coach if I’m not in the head coach’s picture? You think with AI, they could have done that quickly and got me in there? But no, it’s the way it is. It’ll be under the bridge. And what will matter most is how we move from here, and do we win or not. Ultimately, none of that will matter."

As Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay also missed the annual meeting group photo this spring. Monken will now hope to follow in McVay's footsteps by eventually getting his hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy while with the Browns.