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.
Texans Clips
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.
After four unproductive games with the Cardinals to start this season, wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was traded to the Texans. After three games in Houston, Harrison remains unproductive.
Harrison had five catches for 85 yards and one touchdown with the Cardinals this season before he was traded, and he has six catches for 60 yards and one touchdown with the Texans since the trade.
While Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was finding open receivers all over the field in Sunday’s win over the Chargers, Harrison was largely invisible. Stroud threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns; Harrison caught just two passes and was sixth on the team with 20 receiving yards, and he was not one of the four Texans receivers to catch a touchdown pass.
Two and a half seasons into his NFL career, Harrison has fallen far short of the hype that he had entering the NFL, as the son of a Hall of Fame wide receiver and the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. So far, a change of scenery hasn’t helped.
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 Texans might not be back, considering it was the Chargers they blew out, but they can’t be counted out just yet either.
Houston routed the Chargers 44-22 in a game that wasn’t that close.
The Texans have won three of their last four games, and they have the Browns, Colts and Ravens in their next three games. After beginning the season 0-4, Houston is 3-5. The Chargers fell to 0-8 and remain on track for the No.1 overall pick.
C.J. Stroud threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns, a 17-yarder to Xavier Hutchinson, a 63-yarder to Tank Dell, a 12-yarder to Kayshon Boutte, a 13-yarder to Nico Collins and a 63-yarder to Boutte. Boutte caught four passes for 125 yards, and Dell added four catches for 105 yards with the touchdown his first since December 2024.
Woody Marks ran 18 times for 70 yards.
The Texans outgained the Chargers 485 to 315.
Houston sacked Justin Herbert eight times, with Will Anderson, Sheldon Rankins and Jadeveon Clowney each collecting two sacks. Herbert injured the middle finger on his left hand on a sack by Logan Hall in the fourth quarter.
Herbert was 13-of-23 for 193 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Keaton Mitchell lost a fumble.
Herbert stayed in after his hand injury and threw a 58-yard touchdown to Quentin Johnston, ending a streak of 38 possessions without a touchdown. The Chargers’ previous touchdown came with 57 seconds left in the third quarter against the Broncos on Oct. 11 when Kimani Vidal scored on a 42-yard run in the 23-17 loss to Denver.
Ladd McConkey had back spasms in pregame warmups and didn’t play.
Justin Herbert took eight sacks on Sunday, with Sheldon Rankins, Jadeveon Clowney and Will Anderson contributing two each. It was a sack by Logan Hall with 14:12 remaining that the Chargers quarterback appeared to injure the middle finger on his left hand.
Herbert gave a stiff arm to Hall as he tried to get away before the 8-yard sack.
He got up looking at his left hand, which he had surgerically repaired in 2025 after breaking a bone in the back of his hand during a Week 13 game.
Herbert stayed in and threw a 58-yard touchdown to Quentin Johnston two plays later, ending a streak of 38 possessions without a touchdown. Their previous touchdown came with 57 seconds left in the third quarter against the Broncos on Oct. 11 when Kimani Vidal scored on a 42-yard run in the 23-17 loss to Denver.
Herbert did not return on the next possession, though.
He went to the sideline medical tent and emerged with a glove on his left hand, and, it appeared, a splint on his middle finger.
The Chargers did not provide an update on his injury, so it’s unclear whether Herbert left with his injury or because the Chargers were losing 41-15.
DJ Uiagalelei threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Derius Davis with 4:19 left.
The streak is over.
The Chargers went 37 possessions without a touchdown before Quentin Johnston scored on a 58-yard reception from Justin Herbert. It was the longest touchdown-less streak for a team — by possessions — since the 2024 Dolphins.
The Chargers trail the Texans 38-15 with 12:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Their previous touchdown came with 57 seconds left in the third quarter against the Broncos on Oct. 11 when Kimani Vidal scored on a 42-yard run in the 23-17 loss to Denver.
Herbert is 13-of-23 for 193 yards with a touchdown and an interception today.
The Texans have outgained the Chargers 460 to 240, with C.J. Stroud doing 21-of-34 for 384 yards with five touchdowns and an interception.
Nico Collins made one of the best touchdown catches you will ever see in the third quarter on Sunday.
The Texans wide receiver was tightly covered by Chargers cornerback Tarheeb Still when, in the front corner of the end zone, he somehow made a one-handed catch and got both feet in the end zone. Still immediately looked up to the replay board to see how Collins could have caught the ball.
The 13-yard touchdown has the Texans up 31-9 with 8:16 remaining in the third quarter.
C.J. Stroud has 286 passing yards and four touchdowns. His other scoring tosses covered 17 yards to Xavier Hutchinson, 63 yards to Tank Dell and 12 yards to Kayshon Boutte.
The Texans have outgained the Chargers 352 to 116.
The Texans have figured out how to fix their defense: Play the Chargers.
Los Angeles has now gone 34 possessions without a touchdown. It has not reached the end zone since Kimani Vidal ran 42 yards for a score with 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter in an Oct. 11 loss to the Broncos.
The Texans limited the Chargers to 98 yards and held them to only three Cameron Dicker field goals of 52, 33 and 43 yards. They sacked Justin Herbert four times, including two by Sheldon Rankins.
Houston leads Los Angeles 24-9 at halftime.
Kayshon Boutte caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud with 31 seconds left in the half, completing a seven-play, 76-yard drive that might have been the deathknell for the Chargers.
The Texans have 267 yards, with Stroud going 15-of-24 for 230 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Texans wide receiver Tank Dell scored his first touchdown since the 2024 season, 687 days ago, with a 63-yard catch-and-run down the right sideline. Dell missed the 2025 season and six games this season while working his way back from a gruesome knee injury that ended his 2024 season.
Dell has two catches for 66 yards and Boutte two for 47. Woody Marks has 26 yards on seven carries.
Herbert is 9-of-17 for 63 yards, with one of his favorite wide receivers, Ladd McConkey, yet to play because of back spasms during pregame warmups.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is generally struggling this year. Historically, he struggles against defenses run by DeMeco Ryans.
Via NBC Sports research, Herbert is 0-3 for his career against Ryans as a head coach (twice) and as a defensive coordinator (once).
In those games, Herbert had three touchdown passes and six interceptions. Four of them came in the 2024 wild-card loss to the Texans.
The Chargers enter Sunday’s game on a 10-game losing streak. That’s one short of the franchise record, set in 1975 and matched in 2000. A loss today would drop the Chargers to 0-8 for the first time since 2000; that year, the primary quarterbacks were Ryan Leaf and current Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh.
And that’s not all of it. Herbert has gone nine straight games without multiple touchdowns. That’s the second longest streak ever for the Chargers; Leaf had 12 straight games without multiple touchdowns, from 1998 into 2000.
