Freddie Kitchens will have Todd Monken call plays against Lions, which is a smart move on multiple fronts

Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens announced he will have Todd Monken call the plays in the final preseason game against the Detroit Lions, continuing the precedent started last by Todd Haley under Hue Jackson. Curiously, when the idea was brought up to Freddie Kitchens, it almost came with a sense of this being some sort of trap.

Some seemed to believe that this was a bad idea for Kitchens, because that was the first moment when John Dorsey considered the notion of Kitchens being a play caller and ultimately the head coach as if this would then open the door for Dorsey to replace Kitchens with Monken.

Beyond the fact that Monken has called plays in the NFL before, as recently as last year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which are freely available for anyone to see, this isn't about Monken's aptitude for calling plays. It's about Kitchens building trust in his coaching staff that they feel like he's looking out for their best interest and giving them additional reason to be invested.

And part of the reason Kitchens was able to hire such a capable coaching staff is he has a good reputation in the coaching ranks with this type of thing, but this is his first opportunity as a head coach to put his money where his mouth is. It's a small gesture, but a good one.

By not calling the plays himself, it also gives Freddie Kitchens the opportunity to take a look at the game from a different angle. He has the freedom to look at specific parts of plays and get his eyes on players of particular interest. It's also a way for him to critique the parts of his offensive coaching staff and how they work together in a game situation.

It was more of a favor from Haley's standpoint, since he was the offensive coordinator and that was his entire job. With Kitchens being the head coach, his job obviously has a larger scope and it gives him more freedom to take more intricate looks at different parts of the operation as he chooses. Special teams, coaching a specific position or player, evaluating the staff, whatever. It's a simple move in a game without starters that has a lot of upside.