Cleveland Browns

Deshaun Watson will be starting at quarterback for the Browns in Week 1, but head coach Todd Monken left the door open to the possibility that another quarterback could also see playing time against the Jaguars.

Rookie Taylen Green made the 53-man roster and Monken was asked at a Monday press conference if the team could possibly have a package of plays in the playbook to take advantage of the sixth-round pick’s athleticism.

“There could be a package where we have him,” Monken said.

Monken went on to stress that it is a possibility rather than something the team is actively planning to have in place and that “three’s a lot” when asked about having Green active alongside Watson and backup Shedeur Sanders. The Jaguars probably won’t be losing much sleep about that possibility, but it will be something to watch out for if Green avoids the inactive list on Sunday afternoon.

For at least one week, Deshaun Watson will be a Browns captain.

Head coach Todd Monken named Watson one of Cleveland’s five captains for the season opener against Jacksonville. Monken explained that the team will not have season-long captains, instead doing them weekly. There will be two captains from offense, two from defense, and one from special teams chosen by the coaches.

And in Week 1, Watson — the starting quarterback — will be one of the offensive representatives.

“It’ll vary week-to-week, and then at the end of the year, the players will vote on the permanent 2026 captains,” Monken said in his Monday press conference. “I just like it that way. I think we have a fairly young team. I’m not ready to name guys that are permanent for us. I do think it’s cool for players to go out for the coin toss, I think it’s really cool.

“I think most teams have more leaders than just four or five guys — I just believe that. I believe that with each game you reward guys for the week that they’ve had, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Watson, guard Zion Johnson, cornerback Tyson Campbell, defensive tackle Mason Graham, and long snapper Rex Sunahara will be the Browns’ Week 1 captains.

Kickoff between the Browns and Jaguars is set for 1 p.m. ET in Jacksonville on Sunday.

Training camp opened with four, and potentially five, NFL quarterback competitions.

In the end, all five jobs went to the older of the two primary contenders.

The first decision came in Minnesota, where Kyler Murray prevailed over 2024 top-10 selection J.J. McCarthy in the first competition to be resolved, before the first preseason game. The backup job there also has apparently gone to the older player, with Carson Wentz seemingly leapfrogging McCarthy. (The Vikings have yet to release their Week 1 depth chart.)

Minnesota will enter the season with three former high first-round picks in their quarterback room. Murray was No. 1 overall in 2019, and Wentz was the second overall pick in 2016.

The next decision was made by the Browns, where Deshaun Watson was made the starter (at least for Week 1 and likely Week 2) two weeks ago today, over 2025 fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders. Watson was the 12th overall pick in 2017.

Last week, the Raiders finally declared that Kirk Cousins, who entered the league as a fourth-round pick in 2012, would start Week 1 over Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in 2026.

And now the Falcons have gone with Tua Tagovailoa, pick No. 5 in 2020, over Michael Penix Jr., the eighth overall selection in 2024. That one feels even more tenuous than Watson in Cleveland; the Falcons were hoping Penix would be ready to go. Ultimately, they decided he wasn’t — and Tua got the nod over Cooper Rush (who’s technically older than Tua).

The fifth competition never became one, because Jacoby Brissett got a new deal done before a hold in gave Gardner Minshew or Carson Beck a chance to learn the new offense and potentially supplant Brissett.

In many situations, winning the starting job to start the season means securing the privilege of eventually being benched. That’s a very real possibility for Watson, Cousins, and Tagovailoa. The safest of them all is Murray, who was likely signed to be the starter — and who is playing for a team that wants to have the same quarterback in place for all 17 regular-season games.

When the NFL fines players during the preseason, when they aren’t receiving their regular paychecks, the fines are typically for lower amounts. But Browns offensive lineman Tytus Howard got a fairly substantial preseason fine.

The NFL fined Howard $12,537 for what it deemed unnecessary roughness during the first quarter of the first preseason game. Howard got a 15-yard penalty for tripping on the play.

The $12,537 fine was the biggest fine the NFL has announced for the 2026 preseason, although the league has not yet announced any fines for the third and final week of the preseason.

The league’s ability to fine players is established in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the players’ union. The NFL’s officiating department reviews plays and refers potential fines to the football operations staff, which then examines the plays in question to determine whether a fine is in order. Players who get fined are sent a letter informing them of the fine and a video of the play in question. Players who don’t appeal have the money withheld from their next game check. Players who do appeal fines get a hearing with an appeals officer who is jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. This season, the appeals officers are Derrick Brooks, Jordy Nelson and James Thrash. The appeals officer has final say.

Fine money is donated to the Professional Athletes Foundation, which supports former players in need, and the NFL Foundation, which supports health and safety initiatives in football from youth leagues to the professional level.

Michael Lombardi, the longtime advisor to Bill Belichick who was recently placed on leave as North Carolina’s general manager, has resigned.

“Effective September 3, 2026, Michael Lombardi has resigned from his position as General Manager of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s football program,” North Carolina announced in a statement. “The University will continue its ongoing investigation and will consider all appropriate corrective actions responsive to the information it learns.”

It is still unclear why Lombardi was placed on leave, what North Carolina is investigating, or why he resigned, although the matter reportedly stems from a complaint filed by a former North Carolina employee. Less than a week ago, Lombardi’s lawyer was claiming the investigation into Lombardi’s conduct was a “witch hunt.”

Belichick hired Lombardi shortly after becoming North Carolina’s head coach. Lombardi had previously worked with Belichick in both of Belichick’s NFL head-coaching stints, with the Browns and Patriots. After North Carolina won its season opener on Saturday, Belichick made a point of praising Lombardi’s role in building the team.

Now Lombardi is gone, and Belichick has lost one of his most trusted aides.

Browns defensive tackle Mike Hall and running back Quinshon Judkins had a bit of a dust up in training camp, with the incident apparently causing Hall to miss nearly three weeks of practice.

Cameras captured an aggressive block by Judkins on a stumbling Hall. Rumors flew that there was more to it than that; neither the team nor Hall’s agents provided answers in response to inquiries from PFT as to whether the rumors had any merit.

Regardless, Hall met with reporters on Wednesday and said that the incident is in the past.

“Yeah, I mean, we’re teammates at the end of the day, so, I mean, it’s just a little, you know, mishap on the field,” Hall said. “But other than that, you know, he’s my brother, at the end of the day, he’s still my teammate. So we were getting ready to play Jacksonville and that’s what I’m worried about.”

Hall was asked whether he has spoken to Judkins in an effort to clear the air.

“Yeah, like I said before, he’s my teammate, so I mean, got to talk to him at some time,” Hall said. “But we’re getting ready for Jacksonville and that’s all I’m worried about.”

If there was anything more to it, the Browns successfully kept it from getting out. And Hall seems to be over it.

Defensive end Myles Garrett and quarterback Mason Rudolph became forever linked in NFL lore on the night of November 14, 2019, when Garrett ripped away Rudolph’s helmet and struck him over the head with it.

Rudolph, who is still with the Steelers after a one-year break with the Titans, explains that he, and his team, are happy that Garrett has been traded out of the division, from Cleveland to the Rams.

Via Steelers Depot, Rudolph said this in an appearance on teammate Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast: “As a Pittsburgh Steeler, I’m thrilled that he is no longer in the AFC North. I think [coach] Mike McCarthy’s fired up about that, I think [offensive coordinator] Brian Angelichio is fired up about that. I know our tackles are fired up about that. . . . And the top of my frontal lobe, yes.”

If the season goes as planned, Rudolph wouldn’t have been on the field at the same time as Garrett. And Pittsburgh won’t see Garrett at all in 2026, unless both teams make it to the Super Bowl.

That destination is far more likely for one team than it is for the other.

The Raiders naming Kirk Cousins their starting quarterback to open the 2026 season was hardly a surprise.

While Las Vegas had been projected to draft Fernando Mendoza at No. 1 overall for months, the team’s brass had said publicly that its preference was for a rookie quarterback to sit and learn behind a veteran.

But now that it’s official, Mendoza has become a member of a rare group of quarterbacks from recent years.

Mendoza is the first quarterback since Baker Mayfield in 2018 not to start Week 1 after being selected at No. 1 overall.

Mayfield’s situation was not particularly unusual at the time, as Jared Goff had been through the same thing in 2016.

But since then, Kyler Murray (2019), Joe Burrow (2020), Trevor Lawrence (2021), Bryce Young (2023), Caleb Williams (2024), and Cam Ward (2025) have all been their respective club’s Week 1 starter after being selected at No. 1 overall.

Since Matthew Stafford was selected at No. 1 overall in 2009, only Goff, Mayfield, and Mendoza have started the season as QB2. Sam Bradford (2010), Cam Newton (2011), Andrew Luck (2012), and Jameis Winston (2015) all started the season opener.

Mayfield made it into a game by Week 3, taking over for an injured Tyrod Taylor to lead the Browns to their first victory since 2016 with a 21-17 victory over the Jets. He took over as Cleveland’s starter the following week.

It took longer for Goff to ascend to QB1 for the Rams in 2016, as he began his tenure as Los Angeles’ starter in Week 11 with a 14-10 loss to Miami.

Mendoza’s development will remain a priority for the Raiders, even as he won’t receive starters’ reps in the regular season.

“Early work, late work. More meetings,” Kubiak said on Wednesday. “Plenty of time on the field between drills with [QBs] coach [Mike] Sullivan and [offensive coordinator] coach [Andrew] Janocko. Every player that is not starting the first game, that is helping us on the look team, we’re just trying to find every edge we can find to continue to get him better and his teammates better.”

Aside from those selected at No. 1 overall, there are plenty of QBs who haven’t started early and ended up being successful.

“I think there are so many examples both ways,” Kubiak said. “I think the most important thing with the quarterback room or any other position is to build competition within the room. That makes players so much better faster than coaching, when they have a guy in front of them that they can look up to and see how something’s done — that’s going to accelerate their growth.”

We’ll see when Mendoza becomes Las Vegas’ starter. If Cousins plays well and the Raiders are winning, that might not be until 2027. But history suggests Mendoza will be on the field sooner or later as a rookie.

Browns coach Todd Monken had a big decision to make at quarterback. In settling on Deshaun Watson over Shedeur Sanders, Monken didn’t spend much time looking at Watson’s past performances.

“I really, to be honest, haven’t looked at it,” Monken told reporters regarding whether he studied Watson’s film from past seasons. “To be honest, only from afar. When people say, ‘You had to look at it,’ well, not really. I looked at it from afar when I was down the road, right? In crossover film or something, but I try to take everything at face value. What I see, right?

“It doesn’t matter what the player is, I think we owe that to our players, guys that are on the roster. I want to go into it thinking every player we have is elite, and all they have to do is prove me right. That’s all they have to do. That’s what I’m going to go into it — they’re on an NFL roster, I expect them to play well, and I just want them to prove me right. And so I really haven’t really looked at that, different staff, different system. We’ll let it play out. We’ll see where it goes starting a week from now.”

Regardless of whether Monken did or didn’t watch much Watson film, his performances from his time with the Texans are ancient history. It was six years ago. And while there’s some value in looking for plays that he has run well in the past, the more pragmatic approach would be to ignore Watson’s play from 2017 through 2020 and focus on things that will work now, with the 30-year-old version of Deshaun Watson.

When Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson played in a preseason game in Cleveland last month, he was heartily booed.

It clearly bothered him.

When head coach Todd Monken subsequently named Watson QB1 to start the season, fans found more ways to show their displeasure.

While Watson didn’t play in the Browns’ preseason finale last Thursday, he was on the sideline and spent most of his time with a towel over his head — perhaps trying to be as incognito as possible.

But does it bother Monken that Cleveland fans clearly have not wholly embraced his choice for starting quarterback?

“Absolutely not,” Monken said in his Tuesday press conference, via transcript from the team. “Would I prefer that we would all be on the same page? Yeah, but that has nothing to do with my decision, and it can never have anything to do with my decision.

“My decision has got to be about what’s best for the Browns in Week 1 and all the way through the season, and as long as I’m the head coach here.”

To that end, Monken said he has confidence Watson will be able to push the ball down the field to create explosive plays.

“You’re not going to be elite on offense and score points if you can’t create explosives,” Monken said. “It’s so hard to drive the football the length of the field without an explosive. You can look at the studies in terms of percentage of scoring a touchdown or getting a field goal with one explosive in a drive. Obviously, that comes after you’ve gotten the first first down. Every coordinator is going to say we’re chasing explosives, and everyone runs with, ‘Oh [you’re] chasing explosives.’ Well, no shit. Everyone’s chasing explosives and trying to not to turn it over. And that’s what you’re trying to do. What’s the defense trying to do? Turn you over and not allow explosives. That’s really the big chess match is that. The ways that you win.

“So, obviously having explosive players helps that. Being able to scheme it up against certain looks and then being able to execute because your protection has to hold up when you get those opportunities. I’m confident in Deshaun and our ability to push the ball down the field, otherwise we wouldn’t be starting him.”