Tytus Howard Takes Accountability After Costly Penalty-Filled Browns Performance

The Cleveland Browns are 2-1 on the season.

And even though they are riding back-to-back wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers, there is still plenty of work to be done.

In the team's 21-18 victory at home over the Panthers on Sunday, one major concern stood out: the excessive number of penalties. And veteran right tackle Tytus Howard was at the center of them. He committed more false starts in the home opener than he had in the last three seasons combined, a statistic first reported by Cleveland.com's Dan Labbe.

He was flagged for three false starts against Carolina, bringing his total for the season up to five across three games. That simply cannot continue.

Following the game, head coach Todd Monken was honest about the situation,

"We have no excuses. We were at home. That is embarrassing," Monken said about Cleveland's 12 total penalties that cost them 84 yards. "We have to get it fixed in a hurry. It's blank football. It is what it is... that is coaching and playing and again, we had not seen that. You get one thing semi-fixed, get to the line of scrimmage, and then this comes up. It's Browns hurting Browns.

"We know it and now we are going to work like hell to fix it."

Fortunately, Howard didn't shy away from accountability, instead opting to address the issues head-on and own them. He spoke to the media on Tuesday, Sept. 29, just a few days before the Thursday Night Football showdown with the Steelers.

"They said I was leaving a hair early... So I got to fix it," he said. "I can't complain. Maybe I think I wasn't offsides; maybe a lot of people think I wasn't. If they call it, I got to fix it... Just gotta go this week and not let the same thing happen. It is a drive killer.

"I hold myself to a high standard...I just gotta clean that up this week."

Caught up with #Browns OL Tytus Howard to talk about the pre-snap penalties that have plagued him and the O-line.

He doesn't want them to impact his game and get off, but he is focused on fixing it.

"I hold myself to a high standard...I just gotta clean that up this week." pic.twitter.com/kcHC4gnAsP
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 29, 2026

Howard is right. When the Browns are hurting themselves with offensive penalties, drives begin to spiral and slow down. Instead of being a well-oiled machine, it begins to get clunky; plays aren't fluid and defenses have time to make adjustments.

Against a highly experienced Steelers squad, one that is led by 42-year-old future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, they will take advantage of little blunders like penalties and run with it.

Both Monken and Howard know they need to make sure things are cleaned up in time.

"It's like a defensive lineman trying to anticipate the snap count," Monken said. "If you jump offsides and false start once, like, okay. I get it. After that, it is over. Like it is not okay... So, that's on him [Howard]. He knows it. We need to get that cleaned up.

"And I think Tytus has done a great job battling through knicks and bruises that have come up throughout each game. I think as the year goes on, and we are doing the same things over and over, he is going to continue playing at a high level.

If you think Todd Monken is fed up with the penalties on the offensive line - especially pre-snap and formation- you would be correct. Monken also spoke with Tytus Howard today #Browns pic.twitter.com/l5FifqCMwf
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) September 28, 2026

The Browns and Steelers will collide at 8:15 p.m. EST on Thursday, Oct. 1, for another installment of the storied in-division rivalry. This time, not only is there a lot riding on some early-season momentum, but also on the AFC North standings.

Both teams are tied at 2-1, and with a highly contested race going on, each win against an in-division opponent is going to matter big time.

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