After Todd Monken won his first game as Cleveland Browns head coach, he took the chance to shoot back at the naysayers, including former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
"Browns are gonna Browns. (Expletive) that!" Monken said at the end of his press conference following Cleveland's 23-19 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. "The guys took that to heart."
The comment referred to Tomlin, now an NBC analyst, who quoted former Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster's “The Browns is the Browns” line while discussing Cleveland's Week 1 loss to Jacksonville last week.
On Sunday, the Browns overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to beat Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. The much-maligned Deshaun Watson outplayed Mayfield, throwing for 238 yards and two touchdowns while avoiding negative plays. Watson hit tight end Blake Whiteheart for the go-ahead 17-yard TD with just under four minutes remaining. After a two-plus-hour weather delay, Cleveland hung on for the win.
Monken's message clearly resonated in the locker room.
"Monk said what he said," Watson said after the win. "That's how we all feel."
For his part, Tomlin didn't fret the clapback.
"Hey, I'm glad that I can still motivate, although I'm not coaching anymore," Tomlin said, chuckling during NBC's Sunday Night Football pregame show.
The Browns' win keeps Watson in the starting saddle as Cleveland returns to Ohio for their first home game of the 2026 campaign. During the preseason, home fans booed Watson heavily, and he took exception. We'll see how the starter is received after bringing the Browns home with a 1-1 record.
