Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken walked into a situation no head coach wants to find themselves in.
When training camp opened, Monken looked at the quarterback room, and staring back at him were broken-down veteran Deshaun Watson, rookie Taylen Green, and second-year players Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
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Monken’s task, which he very much chose to accept when he took the job, was to somehow figure out how to name a starting quarterback for the upcoming season.
That decision was made before the final preseason game when Monken went with the veteran Watson in an attempt to get something out of a quarterback who has not been good since 2020.
With that box checked, the next task was to build out the depth chart to determine who would be Watson’s backup and who would be the emergency third quarterback on game days.
Gabriel is out, at least for the first four weeks, after coming down with a back injury after a showcase performance against the Chicago Bears in the final preseason game. This left the obvious choice of naming Sanders as the backup and Green as the emergency quarterback.
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Or did it?
Monken has still not officially declared how things are going to play out on Sunday when the Browns face the Jacksonville Jaguars in their Week 1 tilt.
Asked about it on Monday before Cleveland’s first practice of the week, Monken remarked that things may not be as they appear:
“Could be (Green as the backup). There could be a package where we have him (in the game). It is possible we could use him.”
But the Browns could simply roster all three quarterbacks for the game, which would ensure that Green is there if the situation arises, right?
Well, not so fast, according to Monken:
“I don’t think…well, if we could afford it, it’d be nice to have five or six quarterbacks up, but three is a lot.”
Three is a lot. As in, having three quarterbacks on the active game-day roster is a luxury the Browns may not be able to afford.
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Now this could just all be gamesmanship on Monken’s part to keep the Jaguars guessing about what the Browns have in store for them on Sunday. Of course, it is doubtful that the Jaguars are losing any sleep over the prospect of facing any of Cleveland’s quarterbacks.
Or it could be the latest example of the Browns telling everyone how they view Sanders, which is that he is nowhere near being a starting quarterback and still needs considerable work before they even consider him a viable backup option.
Unless Monken comes out and clearly states the depth chart this week, late Sunday morning when the inactives are announced for the game, has the potential to be a spicy time in Browns Town.
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