Todd Monken made the call everyone in Cleveland had been bracing for. Deshaun Watson, not Shedeur Sanders, would be the Browns’ Week 1 starter, closing out a preseason quarterback battle that had split the fan base for months. Shedeur held onto the backup job on the 53-man roster, which meant his season wasn’t over. It just wasn’t going to start the way a lot of people hoped.
Shilo Sanders’ reaction to all of it wasn’t sympathy. It was a joke, and one only a brother could get away with. During a FaceTime call with their mother, Pilar, that ended up on his YouTube channel, Shilo turned to Shedeur and delivered the line with a straight face.
“Congratulations, Shedeur,” Shilo said. “You made it through preseason without getting cut.”
It landed exactly the way sibling shade is supposed to land, funny because it’s a little bit true. Shedeur did survive roster cuts that swallowed up other names on Cleveland’s depth chart. Losing the starting job to Watson still stung plenty, and Shilo knew it. The jab was less about rubbing it in and more about the two of them being able to laugh at a rough month before anyone else got the chance to.
It’s worth noting Shilo hasn’t been all jokes about this. When a Browns reporter floated that Watson deserved the job outright, Shilo fired back in Shedeur’s defense. His public stance on the quarterback competition itself has been patient, insisting his brother’s time will come whether that’s this season or next. The mocking FaceTime call reads more like family being family than anything meant to sting.
Todd Monken Explains What Shedeur Must Still Improve
Monken went further into his reasoning during a Tuesday appearance on Cleveland’s 92.3 The Fan, laying out exactly what separated Watson from Sanders and what he wants to see improve now that Sanders is holding a clipboard.
“In terms of getting rid of the ball, working through his progressions,” Monken said. “I think he’s on the right track, and he does understand we’re playing the long game here.”
Monken didn’t shy away from how limited Sanders’ practice reps have become now that Watson is the unquestioned starter. Watson gets the bulk of first-team work, leaving Sanders with a handful of reps each practice and heavy-duty running the scout team instead. Even with that reduced role, Monken said his outlook on where Sanders stands hasn’t dimmed.
“I’ve been super impressed with his improvement from the moment I got here ’till having lunch with him in the cafeteria,” Monken said. “How far he has come in terms of our operation, understanding the offense, the diligence, his ability to ask questions, open himself up.”
Watson is set to start Cleveland’s opener at Jacksonville on September 13, followed by a Week 2 trip to Tampa Bay. What happens after that is the real question mark. Monken hasn’t said whether a 0-2 start would put the job back in play before Cleveland’s home opener against Carolina in Week 3, and until Watson proves otherwise, Sanders stays exactly where he’s been all preseason: one snap away, and still working.