Browns players give very different answers to Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders question

Barring what would be a surprising development, Deshaun Watson will remain the Cleveland Browns' starting quarterback through at least the beginning of the team's Week 2 game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 20 after he played poorly in Cleveland's 34-10 Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Sunday. 

Per Camryn Justice of Cleveland's WEWS, Browns safety Ronnie Hickman was asked on Monday about Watson getting the nod for the Tampa Bay game over second-year pro Shedeur Sanders. Hickman did not give that decision a ringing endorsement. 

Is Todd Monken already losing Browns players?

"That's above my pay grade," Hickman said about Monken's handling of the team's quarterback situation. 

Watson completed 11-of-17 passes for 100 yards with an interception through the first three quarters of the blowout defeat against Jacksonville, and the game's final score would have been even more unflattering to Cleveland had he not managed to throw a 46-yard touchdown pass in garbage time. 

As for Monken, he reportedly wasn't the most popular figure in the Baltimore Ravens locker room during the final days of serving as that club's offensive coordinator. One can't help but wonder if history is repeating itself in Cleveland. 

On Monday, Browns insider Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland/The Land on Demand "asked Monken if he is concerned if Watson has 100 percent support in the locker room." Monken did not confirm his players are fully behind Watson. 

"I don’t know," Monken responded. "You’d have to ask every one of those guys. You said 100 percent, and really, to be honest, they don’t have a choice. This isn’t a debate. I don’t ask the players every series what play we’re going to call, what play we’re going to call on defense. Like, their job is to play, and our job is to put the best player on the field that we think gives us a chance to win. And I love our guys. But the moment we get into that, in terms of who this guy should be playing, what we’re doing, what we ought to be calling, we’ve lost. We’ve lost sight of the target, which is to own it and fix it and try like hell to get better." 

Deshaun Watson gets support from one teammate

As Justice shared, Browns running back Raheim Sanders was also asked on Monday about Watson staying atop the depth chart. 

"Feel great," Sanders said. "When I first got here last year, just the bond that we had then, definitely feels like going into the next game for him to still be the starting quarterback is great."

It's unclear if Watson will be on a short leash at Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium this coming Sunday. That said, it sounds like Browns players who have to complete certain media obligations this week should expect to hear Watson-related questions.