Browns rookie offensive tackle Spencer Fano got into a scuffle with defensive end Jared Verse at training camp on Saturday and it earned him something much better than a reprimand from head coach Todd Monken.
Monken told reporters at a Monday press conference that Fano will now be the left tackle for the starting offense. Fano was a first-round pick, so he was always ticketed for the first team but Monken cited the way he handled himself against Verse as the final push he needed to move ahead of Dawand Jones.
“We were already leaning that way, and Saturday solidified it. . . . You want to see the competition part; you want to see a guy not back down,” Monken said, via a transcript from the team. “If they don’t stand up for themselves, then you’re really concerned.”
Fano isn’t the only rookie who got good news on Monday. Monken said that wide receiver Denzel Boston has also been bumped up to the first team.
“He’s made a bunch of plays. I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it,” Monken said. “He’s made a bunch of plays. We want to move Jerry [Jeudy] around; I think Jerry is at his best when he’s on the move. He’s elite, he can separate. And I think Denzel has shown that when he’s in the boundary, and you [see] contested catches, a lot of our three-by-one stuff may go to there.”
The Browns also drafted wide receiver KC Concepcion in the first round and all three rookies should wind up playing significant roles as the Browns try to put together a winner in Monken’s first season.
