Cornerback Denzel Ward was a late addition to the Cleveland Browns’ injury report on Friday, and head coach Todd Monken did not know how it happened. “I just know that when we met afterwards that something had happened to his finger, and we were getting it looked at,” Monken said. “So, I mean, knowing Denzel, I would expect him to play, but we’ll see.”
Ward was limited in practice with a hand injury and is questionable for Sunday’s game at the Tennessee Titans. So are safety Grant Delpit (concussion, shoulder), running back Dylan Sampson (knee) and linebacker Quincy Williams (neck). Monken said Delpit still has to clear the last step of the concussion protocol, and he thinks that will happen on Saturday.
Mason Graham is back
The good news on the defensive line is Mason Graham. The second-year defensive tackle hurt his knee and ankle against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4 and missed the next two games, but he finished the week as a full participant and has no injury designation. “I was excited when he got, you know, injured that it wasn’t anything more than it was, and we were going to be able to get him back, because he was off to such a great start,” Monken said. “He loves playing football, loves his teammates, and you can feel him on the field. And so, it’s great to have him back.”
Monken said Graham, Judkins and linebacker Carson Schwesinger, who played through a sore ankle against Baltimore, show the kind of players the Browns have. “I think we got a lot of guys that are wired the right way,” he said. “Not wanting to let their brother down and get out there and do whatever they can to get back. And I think being connected helps that. I think winning helps that.”
Judkins and Sampson together again
Running back Quinshon Judkins, who missed the 13-10 win over the Ravens with an ankle injury, has no designation this week. Sampson has been out since he hurt his knee in the opener against Jacksonville. Monken joked that he had him for so little of that game that it “didn’t even feel like” he had him at all. “There’s a lot of things we need to do better on offense, but to have those guys back together, I think, should be a boost for us,” he said.
When a reporter asked about Dylan’s knee, Monken first thought of quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who is out with a back injury, before he caught on. On Sampson, he said: “I would anticipate that we’ll have him up. I mean, I don’t know that. Certainly we could have a setback, but what I’ve seen, he’s taken another step forward.” He added: “He’s so explosive. Saw it in the preseason, saw it last year, and just the juice he brings. … Smile on his face, energy, and we’re excited to have him back out there, and I think he’s a weapon.”
“We’re still under construction”
Asked about the slow starts on offense, Monken did not make excuses. “If we knew, we would have it fixed,” he said. “Obviously we got to scheme it better, got to coach it better, got to execute better, certainly early in the game, because it’s below the line.” He said the Browns have to look at “what we’re calling, how we’re scheming it, who we’re playing, and, like I said, we’re still under construction.”
When a reporter suggested that a brand-new offense still learns each week how defenses will play it, Monken partly agreed. “Some of that, I think, is true. I think some of that would be an excuse,” he said. “You don’t get to where you’re at without owning it as a coach and saying we certainly have to be better.” He pointed out that the Browns have not been giving the ball away: “As long as we’ve ended the possession with a kick, we’ve certainly not given them anything.” “We’re 4-2 and we haven’t gotten there yet,” he said. Deshaun Watson has thrown 69 straight passes without an interception.
Calling plays as a head coach
Monken is heavily involved in the offense, and he said he relies on his coordinators on defense and special teams. He said he sometimes listens in on the defensive calls and also has to talk with special teams coordinator Byron Storer at key moments, such as where kicker Andre Szmyt wants the ball before a field goal: “I’d hate to move it to the left hash, and he says, no, no, I wanted the right hash.” The hardest game so far, he said, was the rainy one against the Jets, when the call sheet itself became a problem.
He also praised defensive tackle Maliek Collins, who is in his 11th season. “I voted for him All-Pro last year,” Monken said. He recalled that Collins worked out on his own in Houston in the offseason and came back ahead of schedule: “The first day he was jumping on boxes … then said, ‘No, it’s going to be four weeks.’ I’m like, ‘Four weeks?’”
Graham: “Cali tough”
Graham said he practiced last Friday, “didn’t feel like I was ready,” and wanted to build up through this week. “I’ve never like seriously, you know, injured myself in any sort of way like that,” he said of the moment he got hurt. “Thankfully, all glory to God, you know, protected over me. Said a little prayer, and it wasn’t too bad. Just a little bump in the road.” Asked which injury was worse, the ankle or the knee, he said: “I think my ankle.”
He said other people had to tell him to take it slow. “I really wanted to go out there, but I just didn’t feel like I would have played to my standard,” he said. He and Schwesinger joke that they are “Cali tough,” he added. He called Collins “a good voice for us” who is “having his best years later on in his career.” The Browns are second in the NFL with 19 sacks. “It’s cool,” Graham said. “We want to be number one, though.”
Titans and a first road trip
The Titans (1-5) beat the Colts 26-20 last week, scoring 26 points in the second half. “Momentum is a powerful thing. It really is,” Monken said. “They’ve got good players and good coaches, and we’re going to have to be on point.” Kickoff in Nashville is 1 p.m. ET Sunday, which is 8 p.m. in Cairo.
Asked how road trips as an NFL head coach compare with his time as head coach at Southern Miss, Monken said: “The hotels are nicer. Our plane is nicer. But the players are the same.” He added: “You have to figure out what the hell you’re going to say to the team that night. … There’s nothing like being a part of a team. Nothing like it.”
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