Todd Monken shared warning for Lamar Jackson after being hired by Browns

Before the Cleveland Browns hired Todd Monken as their new head coach this past winter, he spent the previous three seasons working with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as that club's offensive coordinator. 

For a lengthy piece produced by Brian Wacker of The Baltimore Sun, Monken shared that he received a "congratulatory text " from Jackson after being hired by the Browns. Monken also revealed what he said to Jackson about upcoming games involving Cleveland and Baltimore. 

Todd Monken sounds ready to go up against Lamar Jackson

"Then I said, 'go f— yourself,'" Monken explained. "We are going to blitz you every third down. He laughed."

Former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh brought Monken to Baltimore in 2023, and Jackson earned the second career MVP Award in his first season playing under Monken. However, it was reported shortly after the Ravens fired Harbaugh this past January that some within the Baltimore locker room "viewed Monken as increasingly standoffish and unwilling to collaborate with players." That story added that Ravens sources "expressed frustration over Monken’s decisions throughout" last season. 

For what it's worth, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti insisted in January that he had been told by Jackson that the signal-caller had no problems with either Monken or Harbaugh. While speaking with Wacker, Monken referred to Jackson as "a tremendous person." 

"We didn’t coach well enough," Monken said about the end of his Ravens tenure. "We didn’t play well enough. It’s really the other things that are involved in all that." 

Todd Monken on end of Ravens tenure: "Everything has a shelf life"

Under Harbaugh, Jackson made zero Super Bowl appearances and accumulated a postseason record as a starter of 3-5. In the end, the team's lack of success on the biggest of stages became unacceptable for Bisciotti. 

"I’m very difficult when somebody says, maybe you’re brash or you can be hard, whether it’s coaches or players," Monken told Wacker. "It’s a hard business. I would tell our offensive staff, you guys really realize how this is gonna go? Do you know why we’re here and that if we don’t at least get to a Super Bowl that I f—– up in 2023, or win one, we’re getting fired? We have Lamar Jackson." 

Monken added that "it was just time" for the Ravens to go in a different direction, as "everything has a shelf life." He will now prepare for the Cleveland defense to blitz Jackson early and often when the Browns host the Ravens on Oct. 18.