Cleveland Browns

On Wednesday, Browns head coach Todd Monken said he was anticipating rookie receiver Denzel Boston would practice on Thursday.

But now we know that is not the case.

Boston is not participating on Thursday as he continues to deal with a toe injury, the club announced in its pre-practice report.

Monken said on Wednesday that he didn’t think Boston’s injury was a concern, calling it “a little toe issue.”

Boston leads the Browns with 507 receiving yards. He’s made 32 receptions with three touchdowns.

Browns starting center Elgton Jenkins (knee) is returning to Thursday’s practice.

Safety Ronnie Hickman (concussion) and fullback Michael Burton (calf) are slated to remain sidelined.

Browns defensive end Jared Verse still doesn’t have a sack this season, and he says his struggles are more mental than physical.

Verse told reporters in Cleveland today that he has been frustrated and needed to work on himself to get right.

“I’m upset with the way I’ve been playing. I don’t think it’s anything physical, nothing about my body, it’s the mental aspect,” Verse said.

Verse revealed that he has worked with Mayur Pandya, the Browns’ on-site mental health professional, to work through his struggles.

“I met with Dr. P a little bit to figure out what my issue was,” Verse said. “Our team psychiatrist.”

Verse said he wants to be a leader of the defensive line and knows he can’t be that if he’s not taking personal inventory of how he can improve.

“I’m mainly going to put it on myself: I haven’t played well at all this season,” Verse said. “I think I’ve taken a little bit of time looking in the mirror at what I could do better because I think the group goes as I go. That’s my mindset in anything I do.”

Verse said he’s confident that he’s conquering the mental issues holding him back.

“I think it was definitely a mental block,” Verse said. “I train my body every day to push myself to the limits of what I’m physically capable of doing. So I don’t think it was any issue with my body, but I think I’ve taken the steps to figure out what it was.”

The Browns practiced without wide receiver Denzel Boston on Wednesday, but they don’t expect his absence to be an extended one.

Boston is listed with a toe injury and head coach Todd Monken said at his pre-practice press conference that the second-round pick is expected to be back on the field on Thursday.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a concern,” Monken said, via a transcript from the team. “Obviously, I anticipate him being out today. He’s got a little toe issue, but we anticipate him being back tomorrow.”

Fullback Michael Burton (calf), safety Ronnie Hickman (concussion), and center Elgton Jenkins (knee) were also out of practice. Offensive tackle Austin Barber (calf), defensive tackle Maliek Collins (elbow), tight end Harold Fannin (groin), right tackle Tytus Howard (knee), linebacker Carson Schwesinger (wrist, ankle), cornerback Denzel Ward (quad), and linebacker Quincy Williams (hamstring) were the team’s limited participants.

Browns head coach Todd Monken opened his Wednesday press conference by confirming that Deshaun Watson will be back as the team’s starting quarterback for their Week 10 game against the Texans.

Watson did not play last week after missing a pair of practices while in the concussion protocol and the team’s plans for this Sunday remained a topic of conversation because Monken declined to say who would start during a Monday press conference. Monken explained that response by saying that he wanted to talk to the team’s coaching staff before adding that he also didn’t feel a need to make a public proclamation.

“Ultimately, the full body of work, the previous eight games we had played,” Monken said. “Deshaun played pretty well. That was my intention, I just wanted to make sure to run it by my staff before I said it publicly. I don’t know why I have to say it publicly.”

Monken was asked if he will be making a quarterback determination on a weekly basis moving forward.

“I don’t look at it week-to-week and I don’t look at it as long term,” Monken said. “We’re judged each week. I am, he is, our team is. . . . I anticipate him being our starter. That’s what he’s been, he’s been our starter. . . . I have no intention of Deshaun not being our starter.”

The Texans are 5-4 heading into their game with the Texans and they have a bye in Week 11. If they are unable to stay on the right side of .500 after that break, Monken will likely field more questions about the plan for Watson moving forward.

A report on Monday morning indicated that the Browns planned to turn back to Deshaun Watson at quarterback for their Week 10 games against the Texans, but head coach Todd Monken declined to make any announcement during a press conference later in the day.

Monken is scheduled to speak to reporters again on Wednesday and the day opened with multiple reports that Watson will indeed start against his former team. Shedeur Sanders started in last Sunday’s loss to the Saints after Watson missed two days of practice while working through the concussion protocol. Watson was cleared on Saturday, but was inactive with Dillon Gabriel serving as the team’s No. 2 quarterback.

Sanders was 19-of-31 for 297 yards and two touchdowns before failing to complete a two-point conversion in overtime that would have won the game. Monken said after the game that he was “proud” of the way the quarterback played in his first start of the season, but avoided a question about whether Sanders showed enough to make a case to move up the depth chart permanently.

The Browns offense only generated six points in their Week 8 loss to the Steelers with Watson at the helm and they have a bye in Week 11, so another lackluster outing against Houston could lead to a different decision at quarterback in the future.

UPDATE 9:31 a.m. ET: The Browns have now confirmed that Watson is set to start the game later.

Shedeur Sanders has given Todd Monken something to think about.

The Browns’ head coach told reporters in his Monday news conference that he’s not ready to name a starter at quarterback for the Week 10 matchup against the Texans.

That came after Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that Deshaun Watson would be back in the saddle after missing Sunday’s game.

“I really haven’t thought through it other than getting through this morning’s tape,” Monken said. “I just got done meeting with the guys. They’ll flush the game and then we’ll have a chance to meet offensively more [extensively] later today. We went through the tape, immediately had to break, go to personnel, then the team comes in, and we haven’t had a chance to circle back as an offensive staff.”

Watson started the first eight games of the season for Cleveland, generating five game-winning drives for the team’s five wins.

Sanders, who started after Watson missed the first two days of the practice week while in concussion protocol, completed 19-of-31 passes for 297 yards with two touchdowns and no picks against the Saints.

“Well I’m awfully proud of him,” Monken said of Sanders. “It’s been 10 weeks since he had reps with the ones. I think it showed up, the reps that we gave him in camp.

“I thought he battled. I thought he showed composure in the pocket, getting to his check-downs at times. He made plays with his feet in escaping. He made the scramble play to Jerry [Jeudy]. He made a big third-down conversion early and he made one right there in four-minute, right before the holding call that gave us a first down. So, that’s what you wanted to see.”

Monken noted that philosophically, he doesn’t really think of a player losing a job due to injury.

“It’s week to week,” Monken said. “A player doesn’t lose or win a job — I don’t know what that means. Each week, we put the best players on the field that give us a chance to win.”

Monken added that Sanders’ play didn’t necessarily alter his thinking about whether or not Sanders could play at some point this season.

“I was thrilled. I was happy for him,” Monken said. “Every player wants to go and play and play well. And there were moments [where] I didn’t coach well enough, he didn’t play well enough. But there were moments at the end of the game where he made plays, right? He got it in the players’ hands, did a really good job, was in command. So, I was really pleased for him. And I was hopeful he’d play well. I thought he had a great week of practice and there is no guarantee that will carry over. So I’m really happy for him.

“Does it give me confidence? From what I saw in the fall, you bet it does. It gives me more and more confidence that what I saw in the fall, there’s something to build on — for sure.”

We’ll see how that translates as the season continues. But the fact that Sanders played well enough to make it an open question does say something about his development.

Browns head coach Todd Monken wasn’t interested in answering questions about the team’s quarterback plans for Week 10 after Sunday’s 23-22 overtime loss to the Saints, but it seems the team has done some thinking about their plans.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the plan is for Deshaun Watson to return to the starting lineup against the Texans. Watson cleared concussion protocol on Saturday, but was inactive after missing two practices during the week.

Shedeur Sanders got the start and went 19-of-31 for 297 yards and two touchdowns. Monken said after the game that he was proud of Sanders’s performance after spending the first two months of the season on the bench, but declined to answer whether it was enough for him to consider making a lasting change.

Monken hasn’t confirmed the team’s plan, but it appears the team will return to the status quo as they try to keep pace in the AFC playoff race.

Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders’s response to questions about the Saints defense leading into Sunday’s game drew the ire of Saints linebacker Carl Granderson and they remained on his mind after a 23-22 overtime win.

Granderson said before the game that the team would have a “chip on our shoulder” because of the smile that Sanders flashed when asked what he’d seen from the New Orleans defense. Granderson had a couple of sacks in the win and then opened his postgame press session by responding to a question about how much motivation the unit drew from Sanders.

“I mean, we seen a lot, you know, on film, so I do not think it was motivation. We saw them chirping,” Granderson said. “So we just came into this game ready to play. I think it is disrespectful for somebody to laugh at our defense, you know, take us as a joke. So we went out there and balled out. They had 2.8 yards in carry, and we stopped the run at 95 rushing yards on 34 attempts. So we did our thing on defense, and in overtime, the two-point conversion. So that was a good team win on defense.”

Sanders had his moments and the Browns would have won with a successful two-point play after a touchdown pass to tight end Harold Fannin in overtime. That would have likely led to a different response from Granderson, but the Saints made one last stop and they were able to get the last laugh as a result.

The Browns fell short in overtime on Sunday, but head coach Todd Monken said he liked what he saw from quarterback Shedeur Sanders in New Orleans.

Sanders was 19-of-31 for 297 yards and two touchdowns, including a 39-yarder to tight end Harold Fannin that made it 23-22 in overtime. Sanders threw an incompletion on the ensuing two-point conversion, which allowed the Saints to escape with a win.

“I’m really proud of him and how hard he’s worked since I’ve been here,” Monken said. “He wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t perfect. But for a guy that really hasn’t taken snaps with the ones in, what, 10 weeks. When we announced it with two weeks left and we’re eight weeks into the season, so you’re basically two-and-a-half months where you’re basically running cards. To come in there and continue to battle, really proud of him.”

Sanders got the start after Deshaun Watson missed most of the week in concussion protocol and Monken was asked if he made a case for a longer run as a starter during the loss.

“How long has it been? Thirty minutes since the game ended? I’m not getting into quarterback,” Monken said. “If we want to talk about Shedeur, we can talk about Shedeur.”

Watson cleared the protocol on Saturday, but was inactive for Sunday’s game. The Browns will host the Texans next Sunday and more clarity about their quarterback plans should come in the next few days.

The Browns and Saints were tied at 6-6 midway through the fourth quarter.

But the game then became a barn burner in the final period and overtime, with a failed Cleveland two-point conversion allowing the Saints to escape with a narrow 23-22 victory.

New Orleans had taken a 9-6 lead with Charlie Smyth’s 48-yard field goal with 5:38 left in the contest. But the Browns immediately responded with a 64-yard touchdown catch by rookie KC Concepcion, who burned the defense off the line.

It was Concepcion’s first career touchdown.

The Browns, however, couldn’t hold the late lead. The team’s four-minute offense couldn’t convert enough first downs, leaving the Saints with time to get down the field. They were able to get in the end zone with Audric Estime’s 2-yard touchdown with 58 seconds on the clock, going ahead 16-13.

But Shedeur Sanders — playing after Deshaun Watson spent most of the week in concussion protocol — connected with Jerry Jeudy for a key 30-yard gain. The outstanding throw and catch set up Andre Szmyt for a game-tying 51-yard field goal to send the contest into overtime.

Juwan Johnson capped New Orleans’ OT possession with a 15-yard touchdown reception.

But Harold Fannin’s terrific catch-and-run put the Browns in position to tie it or win it with a 39-yard touchdown. Browns head coach Todd Monken elected to go for the win instead of settling for — at best — a potential tie. But Sanders’ throw to Denzel Boston was incomplete. Even if it had been caught, the Browns were flagged for holding.

Sanders finished the contest 19-of-31 for 297 yards with a pair of touchdowns.

On the other side, Tyler Shough was 21-of-35 for 265 yards with a TD.

Notably, New Orleans center Erik McCoy had to depart the game with an elbow injury.

The Saints have put themselves right back in the NFC South conversation at 3-5. They will have a chance to gain more ground in the division next Sunday, as they’ll play the Panthers at home.

The Browns have now dropped two in a row, falling to 5-4. They will play the Texans at home next Sunday before a Week 11 bye.