Todd Monken encouraged by Deshaun Watson, felt he functioned at ‘high level’ vs. Bears

CHICAGO — If Deshaun Watson was ahead in the latest edition of the Cleveland Browns’ perpetual quarterback derby before Saturday’s preseason opener, then he’s probably still in the lead.

But Browns coach Todd Monken says the competition between Watson and Shedeur Sanders will continue, at least for another week. And it’s hard to imagine much changed Saturday in what was a predictably uneven first performance in a game setting for both quarterbacks.

The remade Browns offense had two scoring drives with Watson at the helm. After Sanders made two impressive throws to open the third quarter, the Browns failed on a fourth-down run inside the Chicago Bears’ 10-yard line.

Cleveland didn’t score after those two Watson-led drives, and the Bears ended up running away with a 34-10 victory. But nobody’s going to remember the score, and Monken’s postgame comments focused on the next steps for the Browns as a whole and for Watson’s ongoing comeback attempt.

“It was awesome,” Monken said about Watson. “It was so cool to watch him play. I get all of the frustration by fans, himself (with the past), but for him to come back and work like he did is an unbelievable credit to him. He was having fun today, and I thought he really functioned at a high level.”

Watson played in a game for the first time since October 2024, when he suffered a torn right Achilles tendon against the Cincinnati Bengals. He tore the same tendon again about 10 weeks later and did not play last season while rehabbing. Though the practice reps have been split and the order alternated on every practice day but one since the spring, Watson has been first in every practice-drill line and was first up during spring work and training camp.

“I felt good, felt excited just to be back on the field,” Watson said. “It was good to just go through pregame, get warmed up, take the field for the first time in I don’t even know how long it has been.”

Monken stuck to his stated plan and played Watson in the first half. In announcing Watson as Saturday’s starter, Monken said Sanders would start and play the first half in next week’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Both will work with the No. 1 offense in Thursday’s joint practice session with Buffalo.

That joint practice is the fourth session on the Browns’ calendar this week, and decision time looms with Monken saying he always targeted the second preseason game as the best point to pick a winner. The Browns close the preseason Aug. 27 versus the New England Patriots and open the regular season Sept. 13 in Jacksonville, Fla.

On Saturday, Watson was 11-of-15 passing for 126 yards, almost exclusively on short throws. An end-around run by rookie wide receiver KC Concepcion on the first play of the second quarter capped a 10-play, 81-yard scoring drive in which more than half the yards came on a 43-yard screen pass to Dylan Sampson.

Watson’s most impressive work was probably converting a first-and-25 with three straight completions after a penalty on what became a field goal drive midway through the first quarter.

The Bears played five of their defensive starters, three on the defensive line. The Browns started their offensive regulars but removed four of their five starting offensive linemen after the second series, and Watson seemed hesitant against some of Chicago’s pressure after the first two drives. On a fourth-down play late in the first half, Bears defensive end Jamree Kromah beat rookie tackle Austin Barber and knocked the ball out of Watson’s hand.

Monken wanted Watson to get a two-minute drill situation, and the Browns got the ball with 1:52 left in the first half. But that series went nowhere thanks to more pressure and a drop, so there wasn’t much to evaluate. On Watson’s last 12 plays, the Browns totaled 24 yards.

“Certainly there were things from an operational standpoint (Watson) can do better,” Monken said. “But it was fun watching him play.”

Sanders got three series. He had the day’s most visually impressive throws, two to Gage Larvadain and a 35-yarder over the middle to Luke Floriea with three Chicago pass rushers closing quickly on the second-year quarterback. But Sanders’ last pass was thrown well over the head of intended target Malachi Corley and was intercepted by Beanie Bishop Jr. early in the fourth quarter.

“Right read, but the ball just slipped,” Sanders said.

Monken said he believed both Sanders’ interception and one thrown by third-stringer Dillon Gabriel later in the fourth quarter were not the result of bad decision-making and that he looked forward to watching the film as part of the evaluation of the entire offense.

“I was really pleased with our quarterback play,” Monken said. “It’s not going to feel like that (when) you turn it over three times, that’s never ideal. But to me, it felt like we are going to be able to throw the football.”

Concepcion and fellow rookie wideout Denzel Boston bring much-needed juice to what was one of the league’s worst receiver groups last season. Boston had one catch on two targets from Watson, while Concepcion had three catches plus the touchdown run.

Sanders finished 6-of-11 for 79 yards. Sanders completed three of his first four passes and cited a third-down checkdown in the red zone to Ahmani Marshall as his best throw of the day because it showed growth — from himself and the offense. Watson said he felt good about limiting negative plays and stringing together completions, but both quarterbacks followed their coach’s lead by not really talking about the state of the competition.

Probably, there’s only one week left. And Monken won’t be as enthusiastic about things next week if he doesn’t see growth in these upcoming practice sessions.

“Every opportunity I get, I’m just trying to go one step forward,” Watson said. “Just trying to improve every day.”