Browns' Todd Monken doesn't seem to regret Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders decision yet

Even before the Cleveland Browns entered halftime of their Week 1 game at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon, some Cleveland fans wondered if first-year head coach Todd Monken could bench struggling starting quarterback Deshaun Watson in favor of second-year pro Shedeur Sanders. 

Monken instead stuck with Watson to the bitter end of what became a humbling 34-10 loss to the Jaguars. While speaking with reporters after the double-digit defeat, Monken did not commit to starting Watson for the Browns' Week 2 matchup at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 20. That said, Monken also didn't sound like a coach ready to make a quarterback change. 

Browns' offensive woes against the Jaguars weren't "all" on Deshaun Watson 

"It wasn't all him," Monken said about how Watson and the Cleveland offense performed in Jacksonville, per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. "It really wasn't all him. That's unfair. Certainly could have called it better, certainly could have played better around him. Certainly there's plays I'm sure he wished he had back. There are certain things operationally that weren't clean enough. Us getting in and out of the huddle, getting our subs in, being up against it and saying that you're on the road or the heat or all that, that's just a bunch of excuses."

Against Jacksonville, Watson largely looked like the version of himself who was arguably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL during the 2024 season before he suffered the first of two Achilles injuries in October of that year. As Oyefusi noted, Watson completed 11 of 17 passes for 100 yards with an interception through the first three quarters of his return to regular-season in-game action. With under two minutes remaining in regulation, Watson tossed a meaningless 46-yard touchdown pass.