Todd Monken Compliments Shedeur Sanders’ Big Day at Browns Veteran Minicamp

Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken doesn’t plan to be naming a starting quarterback after the team’s mandatory veteran minicamp wraps up on Thursday.

Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson continue to compete. During Tuesday’s minicamp opener, Sanders was the first quarterback to take the field in the team’s competitive 11-on-11 drills. The 24-year-old looked much sharper than Watson, who struggled to complete passes throughout the early portion of the practice.

But Monken will allow this competition to play out a bit further, as the first-time head coach believes that both quarterbacks have shown promising enough growth.

“Once we get to the fall, we’ll have to dissect the reps as we see fit,” Monken said on Tuesday. “I just don’t see it after the way Shedeur has played and Deshaun has played, they both played well enough to earn the right to compete to start.”

With Sanders dominating the starting reps on Tuesday’s first minicamp practice, Monken expects Watson to take much of the workload on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, both quarterbacks will split starting reps in the final practice before training camp gets underway in the middle of July.

“He’s been getting better and better with each practice day,” Monken said about Sanders.

Todd Monken on Shedeur Sanders’ big practice to start veteran minicamp:

“He’s been getting better with each practice day.” https://t.co/WCNXjZOl86 pic.twitter.com/VbdmDMkOGD
— Nick Pedone (@NickPedone12) June 9, 2026

Even Browns cornerback Tyson Campbell has seen growth in Sanders from last season.

"You can see the growth big time. The way he carries himself, the way he practices, he's being even more of a pro than he was last year," Campbell said. "He's getting better and getting more comfortable making plays."

Tyson Campbell on Shedeur Sanders:

"You can see the growth big time. The way he carries himself, the way he practices, he's being even more of a pro than he was last year. He's getting better and getting more comfortable making plays." pic.twitter.com/iLLqS9nbvj
— Nick Pedone (@NickPedone12) June 9, 2026

Sanders gaining steam in this competition?

Monken stated that he’d love to have a starting quarterback named by the end of spring practices on Thursday. But the 60-year-old head coach isn’t quite sure he’s going to be ready for that announcement, as he really likes Sanders and Watson and is yet to see either quarterback play against a defense wearing pads.

To start the offseason, many reports indicated that Watson had an inside track to be named Cleveland’s starting quarterback. Monken even noted that he was open to a clean slate for the league leader in passing yards back in 2020.

But the reality is, Watson hasn’t jumped off of the page. He’s shown inconsistencies and incompletions while Sanders continues to make improvements, connecting with KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston and Isaiah Bond throughout Tuesday’s practice.

Neither quarterback has pulled away in this competition, but it certainly feels like Sanders has gained some ground against the veteran.

Will it be enough?

Sanders will need to continue to impress his new head coach in the next two practices. Day 1 of the veteran minicamp belonged to Sanders. He can’t lose momentum on Wednesday and Thursday. Then, the team will have a few weeks off before returning to Berea for training camp later this summer.

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