Todd Monken addresses Deshaun Watson's potential as Browns QB

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Matthew Couden

By Matthew Couden

Contributing Writer

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With Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken yet to name Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders as the team's starting quarterback, he's been deciding between both players through a QB competition at practice.

He's also continuing to field questions from the media about his impressions of both players, including whether or not Watson could be the type of quarterback for the Browns that he was when he previously played for the Houston Texans.

"I would never put limitations on a player. I would hate that he would do that. Why can't be? Why can't he play like that?" Monken said, referring to previous comments Watson made.

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"I'm not gonna say he can't until I see it. Til we see it, right? I've seen a lot of really good things over the course of four or five months I've been here. I'm not gonna put that on him. If he thinks he can't play like that, that's on him. I think he's done a lot of really good things athletically, making plays, that we're gonna get a chance to see, right? Because we're not live. We'll see. We'll see if that comes to play when we get out there and go," Monken explained to reporters.

Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken during training camp

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Watson, 30, is attempting to win the starting job after missing all of last season due to rehabilitation after his January 2025 surgery for a torn Achilles tendon. He previously played the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Texans, earning Pro Bowl honors in three of those seasons, and spent one season with them where he was unable to play.

Watson led the Texans to winning records and the NFL Playoffs in two of his seasons. He was also the league's passing yards leader in his 2020 season, throwing for 4,823 yards and 33 touchdowns with a 112.4 rating, but it's been a long time since he could show he still has that level of play in him.

Following his 2020 campaign, he requested a trade to get a change of scenery from Houston amid frustrations with the coaching staff and front office.

After being held out of Texans games for the entire 2021 season, Houston traded him to the Browns in 2022, where he was set to take over as the team's full-time starter, but never started more than seven games in a season.

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Through the 2024 season, Watson compiled a record of 9-10 as the team's starter. He was then hindered by his injury rehab setback during the past season.

He's now working his way towards the starting job, and Monken seems to believe in the veteran quarterback's abilities to replicate the success he had earlier in his career with Houston. Time will tell if he can do that, but first he needs to earn that starting QB job, which will likely be decided by the time preseason is over.

The Browns face the Chicago Bears in their first preseason game on Saturday, Aug. 15, but as of this writing, it's unclear which of Cleveland's quarterbacks will get the start.

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