The Browns have set their first two preseason quarterback starts, with Deshaun Watson opening against the Bears in Chicago on Aug. 15 and Shedeur Sanders taking the next game against the Bills on Aug. 22. Todd Monken made the calls on Wednesday, giving each quarterback a separate turn as the team begins to sort out its passing picture.
Watson said he was “super excited” ahead of Wednesday's practice, and the assignment comes after he and Sanders spent the first eight days of training camp alternating first-team reps. That split has kept both in the conversation, which is why the Browns are using the preseason to see them in game conditions rather than leaving the decision to camp work alone.
Monken said each quarterback is likely to play a half in the first preseason game and wants both to get a two-minute situation as well. That means the opener should not be a cameo for Watson or a throwaway week for the rest of the quarterbacks. It is a structured look at how each man handles scripted pressure, timing and control before the bigger decisions arrive.
Watson has had enough first-team work to make the assignment matter. He took back-to-back first-team reps on Aug. 7 and Aug. 8, then returned to the top group most recently on Aug. 11 after the Browns went back to alternating days. During Tuesday's practice, he hit Isaiah Bond on a deep pass over the middle for a touchdown in 11-on-11 work and found Cedric Tillman down the right sideline for a big gain in 7-on-7.
The clean setup does not mean the competition is done. Monken said it is still ongoing, and that the preseason games will help assess how each quarterback plays when the work is counted. He also said the quarterback who does not play as much this week, along with the other quarterbacks, will be judged differently once the next game comes around.
That leaves the Browns with a clear short-term plan and a larger question still hanging over the room. Watson gets the first chance against the Bears, Sanders gets the next one against the Bills, and what happens after that will be shaped less by camp rhythm than by how each looks when the snaps start to count.
