Browns HC Todd Monken optimistic over Deshaun Watson as QB1: 'I see him as still a very young player that is gonna continue to grow'

Age is just a number, and Todd Monken thinks that Deshaun Watson still has plenty of room to grow.

During a press conference on Monday, the Cleveland Browns head coach was asked if he thinks that Watson could become good enough to dispel uncertainty over who would be starting for the team week-to-week. And while Monken quipped that he would be happy to stop getting asked about Cleveland's QB1, he also said that he still sees a lot of potential in Watson.

"Do I love dealing with it every week? Of course not. You guys keep asking, which is a lot of fun," Monken said of getting asked about the quarterback situation. "But the reality is, of course, of course. And I'm happy for Deshaun, the way he's played, and I expected improvement, and I expect continued improvement. There's a lot of football left in him. He just hasn't played in a while. And learning our system and trying to get him consistent with his drops and his reads is part of the process. He's like every player. "I see him as a young player. I know people don't want to see it that way, and I haven't been here. But I see him as still a very young player that is gonna continue to grow."

"Do I love dealing with it every week? Of course not. You guys keep asking, which is a lot of fun," Monken said of getting asked about the quarterback situation. "But the reality is, of course, of course. And I'm happy for Deshaun, the way he's played, and I expected improvement, and I expect continued improvement. There's a lot of football left in him. He just hasn't played in a while. And learning our system and trying to get him consistent with his drops and his reads is part of the process. He's like every player.

"I see him as a young player. I know people don't want to see it that way, and I haven't been here. But I see him as still a very young player that is gonna continue to grow."

Watson, 31, has missed multiple seasons with injuries, and certainly hasn't gotten as much experience as others in his age group. But he's been in the league since 2017, has racked up 75 regular-season NFL appearances and has had a chance to prove himself on two different NFL teams across eight seasons.

Monken, though, is correct that it's been a while since Watson has played: Watson made his season debut in Cleveland's rough Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars , 693 days after an Achilles tear ended his 2024 season .

So far, Watson has thrown for 443 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in his first two games of the season, exceeding expectations overall and helping lead the Browns to their first win of the season on Sunday.

Overall, Watson's career in Cleveland overall has had a lot of rough patches. On the heels of dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct (though without criminal charges ), he was traded to the team in 2022 from the Houston Texans , signing a deal with the Browns that included a historic amount of guaranteed money. Watson was then suspended 11 games in 2022 as a result of the league's investigation.

Watson has spent most of his time in Cleveland injured — surgeries ended his 2023 and 2024 seasons early, and he missed the entirety of the 2025 season after re-tearing his Achilles — and when he has played, he has often been pretty lousy. When he returned this season, boos from the Cleveland crowd led Watson to rip into Browns fans as being "disrespectful."

For a while, Monken, who was hired by the team in January , has appeared to approach Watson's tenure with the team as a blank slate.

"I try to take everything at face value. What I see," Monken said earlier this month . "I think we owe that to our players. … I want to go into it thinking every player we have is elite, and all they have to do is prove me right."

Monken's comments on Monday signal that the head coach will be sticking with Watson at least for the near future. Luckily for Cleveland (and for Watson), the Browns have a pretty easy stretch of games coming up, facing the Carolina Panthers , Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets over the next three weeks.