Shedeur Sanders Thriving Under Todd Monken’s Early Approach With Browns

Tuesday marked another new era of Cleveland Browns football as new head coach Todd Monken started his quarterback competition.

Shedeur Sanders, who finished last year with two victories in the AFC North, is competing against Deshaun Watson as the Browns work to identify their starting quarterback again this offseason.

After their first voluntary minicamp session of the season, Sanders spoke about the new vibe surrounding the Browns.

“You can understand that they embrace you just as a person and then they push you each and every day in the meeting room and on the field and in the weight room,” Sanders said. “It’s a new vibe, it’s a new energy.”

Outside of practicing more compared to last preseason as a rookie, Sanders said the vibe was different for Cleveland’s first practice of the 2026 campaign. The second-year quarterback explained that the players are all taking more responsibility in keeping one another accountable.

“We’re all focused on what we have to do as individuals to get better,” Sanders said.

How Monken’s relationship with Sanders is already different

"Coach just spoke life into me. And then when you do that, you just get the best result from me, honestly," Sanders said.

Since being hired at the end of January, Monken has preached about building personal relationships with his players.

Last season, it felt like ex-Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski had a hard time connecting with his players, especially Sanders. Stefanski wanted to keep the polarizing fifth-rounder on the shelf. But following Joe Flacco’s trade and Dillon Gabriel’s injury and benching, Sanders was thrust into action despite what felt like an awkward relationship with his head coach.

When asked about learning new concepts and terminology, Sanders expressed that he’s aware of how he learns, and this new regime is leaning into his style.

“I know how I learn,” Sanders said. “So, knowing that I know how I learn is great and the coaches are able to communicate in different ways to help you learn and that’s why I’m appreciative of this coaching staff.”

Even though Sanders wants to forget about last season and leave it in the past, there were questions about how the former Colorado quarterback was understanding Stefanski’s playbook. At times, the ex-Browns coach indicated that Flacco and Gabriel were further ahead in understanding schemes and philosophies, which was why they were on the field and Sanders wasn’t.

“I’m just thankful that my coaches now are extremely embracing,” Sanders said.

Monken has already noted that Sanders has been a frequent visitor into the new head coach's office. On Tuesday, Sanders admitted that he's been leaning on the 60-year-old as well as Watson for advice and their pespective into different situations.

Sanders was the first passer up in team drills for his first practice of his second season in the NFL. He rotated into action behind Watson in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. Monken will continue to mix up the reps for these two quarterbacks throughout the preseason.

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