BEREA ― Every throw has been chronicled. Every social media video has been broken down by thousands in order to gain some insight into who’s ahead.
Turns out, for all of the talk about who’s leading between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders for the Browns’ starting quarterback job, the person making the decision doesn’t really have a lean yet. In fact, coach Todd Monken would tell you that the evaluation process hasn’t even started.
“When I’m scripting, I really am not scripting based on who’s a quarterback,” Monken said prior to the Browns’ practice on Day 4 of training camp. “They each have a different skill set. So as of right now, I’m not evaluating any of them. … I’ll take that back. We are evaluating, but not to that extreme. Nothing’s going to be decided over these install practices. We’re just getting it in, letting the guys compete, see where we’re at.
“That’s all positions. And then once we get further along in pads, the full installs are in, we get to compete against other people, that’s really when I’m going to be able to see it because I haven’t coached any of the four quarterbacks ’till now.”
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Monken indicated the installation period stretches over the first eight practices of training camp. The Browns will have Aug. 2 off before coming back the next day for the start of six consecutive days of practice.
The final of those install practices will be Aug. 6. That leaves five full practices for the Browns before their preseason opener Aug. 15 at the Chicago Bears.
“Any rep at any point in time is extremely important,” Sanders said prior to practice, which was his second time running with the No. 1 offense. “Even the guys that weren’t able to make it. We talk about different things in the building and we work it. I have to practice some things. So every rep that we able to get with our guys truly, truly makes a difference and truly builds that trust and connection.”
The Browns’ fourth full-squad practice of training camp marked the second cycle for both Watson and Sanders to get a full practice working with the No. 1 offensive group. There’s been minor tweaks to that group depending on the day, as Dawand Jones and Spencer Fano have alternated at left tackle and Teven Jenkins and KT Leveston have alternated at right guard.
There’s good and bad that go with that back and forth. Obviously, it spreads the reps out equally for both, as the other is working with the twos on the adjacent field at the same time.
The challenges, though, extend to the players you’re playing with on a given day. That could be the linemen blocking or the wide receivers catching.
“I mean, it can be because it’s hard to build that rhythm,” Watson said prior to practice. “But at the same time as a quarterback, you just try to lock in. You got to be a leader out there and you got to bring everybody to that standard and you all got to play that way. So regardless of what group you’re in with or who you in there with, you just got to make sure you execute at a high level. So it’s definitely challenging, but at the same time, you can’t make that as an excuse in the zone.”
Both quarterbacks have something to personally prove as they battle for the starting job. Watson’s trying to show he’s still capable of playing at an NFL-starter level after missing the last year-and-a-half due to a pair of Achilles tears and only playing 19 combined games since 2020.
Sanders, meanwhile, is trying to show he deserves to remain a starter after starting the final seven games of his rookie season in 2025. He understands that one of the key things that can help him do that is being able to be steady throughout, something he believes goes beyond just on the field.
“I think it’s more about if you’re consistent with anything, you’re going to be consistent with everything,” Sanders said. “I guess it’s a simple thing. If you eat at this time every day, then you’re going to be better and consistent at eating every day at this time.”
The tale of the tape for the two quarterbacks going into the fourth practice showed one area where Sanders had been more consistent than Watson was in not giving up the football. Watson had thrown three interceptions in his two practice days against the No. 1s, then had a ball he threaded into a tight window to tight end Jack Stoll in Saturday’s practice get ripped free by rookie safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and into the hands of safety Christopher Edmonds for a pick-six.
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Some of that goes back to what Monken was saying about installation and quarterbacks’ focusing on specific things. Watson admitted there’s a fine line between testing things out and making mistakes.
“I think it just depends on the period and what we’re working on,” Watson said. “Certain things that we work on is third-and-long. So we have those opportunities, we talking to me and if you get this look or you get certain things, then let’s be a little bit more aggressive. This is the time to see if you can make those throws, if the receivers can get their depth, have those timing routes.
“But this is the perfect time to be able to make all the mistakes you possibly can because it doesn’t really count. And you don’t want to get into a game and you haven’t ran that or tried it out and you tried in a game and it goes wrong. So there’s a fine line between, but you just got to know and understand what we’re working.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson still figuring it out in Browns QB battle
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
