Todd Monken might not yet have decided whom to hand the QB1 keys to; however, he is protective of his quarterbacks. The head coach got upset about a player taking a nasty hit on Shedeur Sanders at practice. The punishment ended up being shared by the whole team.

“Todd Monken got very angry at the end of practice and cut it short after 15 minutes,” reported Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot on August 18. “He saw some things from defenders that he did not like at all.

“He brought everyone in for a little bit of a tongue-lashing in the huddle, and he ended the session about 15 minutes early. Now, what happened was one defender made contact with Shedeur Sanders’ arm. That’s a big no-no.”

In a later report by Cabot, Monken was angry when defensive end Benton Whitley made contact with the quarterback’s arm in a move-the-ball period at the end of practice (fourth-to-last play). Defensive players have been instructed not to get near quarterbacks.

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Other moments also led Monken to cut the practice short. Defensive tackle Adin Huntington knocked Quinshon Judkins to the ground, prompting the head coach to pull him out of the field and effectively end the practice. According to Johnson, Monken “screamed” at Huntington and the defensive coaches.

According to The Athletic’s Zac Johnson, the interrupted drill still had 10 minutes to go, and a situational drill for the No. 1 offense was scheduled. What exactly got to him is unknown, as Monken only talks to the press before practice.

In another play, Jared Verse grabbed Judkins by the shoulder, causing his Guardian cap to come loose.

According to Cabot, Monken was loud enough during the team huddle for the reporters to hear him. 92.3 Daryl Ruiter wrote that some “f bombs” were heard.

Monken had a bit of “save it for the Bills” attitude as he wrapped up the practice early, according to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney. The head coach already has high expectations for the joint practice with the Buffalo Bills on August 20. 

“We get to see where we stack up against one of the premier teams over the last 10 years making the playoffs,” he said. “I’m excited about that because in that practice we get to see our ones against ones.”

In the quarterback battle, Shedeur Sanders seems to have been pushed back, with Watson getting more reps. For the Bills game, however, Sanders will be starting in the first half, with Watson taking over afterward. He enters the game after throwing a bad interception in the preseason clash vs the Chicago Bears in Week 1. Sanders needs to put forward a commanding performance if he wants to win the starting job during the season.