BEREA, Ohio (AP) — It took six questions before coach Todd Monken was asked something he will have to answer plenty of times over the next four-plus months.
In this case, it was why Shedeur Sanders took the opening snaps with the first team during the Cleveland Browns’ first voluntary minicamp practice on Tuesday with Monken in charge.
The 10 NFL teams with new coaches are permitted to hold an additional voluntary minicamp this week before the draft starts on Thursday night.
“He was first man up. I knew it was coming. Didn’t know who was going to ask it, but I knew it was coming,” Monken said about the quarterback question.
Sanders and Deshaun Watson are expected to compete for the starting spot throughout offseason workouts and training camp. Watson, who missed last season after tearing his Achilles tendon twice, took first-team reps during three of the five team periods.
Monken said quarterback coach Mike Bajakian came up with Tuesday’s quarterback rotation.
“The way it was going to turn out, Shedeur was going to get more reps. Some of it in pass (skeleton drills), some of it in team,” Monken said. “A couple of the team periods were slowed-down ACT, more run than they were throw. So it was set up in a way for us to get a look at all of them. The plan was to have Shedeur have a few more reps, but to let Deshaun and Shedeur both have reps with the ones.”
Monken also noted that the rotations will change over the next two days of the minicamp as well as throughout the organized team practices in May and June.
Sanders has spent the offseason in Cleveland working out. The much-hyped fifth-round pick started the final seven games last season, going 3-4 with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
“Well, this is the most important thing I have to do in my life. I have a house here. I’m comfortable, and I wanted to take everything to the next level within myself,” Sanders said. “I know with some things that I wanted to improve, and I took a lot of time to self-reflect and just do a lot of things just from a different perspective, honestly. And I think I covered a lot of ground with that.”
Sanders didn’t get much into the new playbook, other than to say it lets him play fast. He was more descriptive about his early impressions of Monken and the coaching staff.
“Coach Monken is great, and all the other coaches on the staff are extremely great. You can understand, and they embrace you just as a person, then they push you every day in a meeting room and on the field, in the weight room, it’s a new vibe, it’s a new energy,” Sanders said.
Watson — who hasn’t played in a game since Week 7 of the 2024 season — has gone 9-10 as Cleveland’s starter with 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 80.7 passer rating.
Despite having only two weeks with the new playbook, Monken thought Watson, Sanders and Dillon Gabriel were in command during practice.
“I never felt at one time like they were lost. To me, that’s the start of it. The start of it is how we function, how they lead. Is there a belief system in who has the ball in their hands every play?” Monken said.
Gabriel started six games, going 1-5 with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He is a long shot for the starting job, but isn’t focusing on it.
“I think I’m just running my own race and focus on what I can control, and that’s mastering my reps and doing it at a high level,” he said.
Reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, and cornerback Denzel Ward were not at Tuesday’s practice. They do not have to be with the team until the mandatory minicamp in early June.
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