Cleveland Browns fans got a rare moment of comic relief this week after a Week 1 performance that gave them plenty to be frustrated about. Former NFL defensive end Isaac Christopher Rochell, who briefly played for the Browns during the 2022 season, posted a tongue-in-cheek offer to un-retire and rejoin the team under new head coach Todd Monken.
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“Coming out of retirement to help the Browns,” Rochell wrote on Instagram. “I’m actually ready #jk #theyneedmeback”
The joke made sense because of what had happened a few hours earlier. Cleveland had opened the 2026 season with a 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, giving Monken a rough start in his first game as the Browns’ head coach. Cleveland hired him in January after firing Kevin Stefanski.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson, making his first start in nearly two years following a torn Achilles, finished 16-of-22 for 205 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, while also getting sacked five times and charged with one fumble. Cleveland didn’t cross midfield again after its opening drive until trailing 24-0, and its only touchdown came with two minutes left in the game.
There was a lot riding on Monken’s arrival, too. His résumé included three seasons as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator from 2023-25. During that stretch, Lamar Jackson won the NFL MVP award in 2023. Before that, Monken was Georgia’s offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs’ national championship seasons in 2021 and 2022.
The Browns’ owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam pointed to that background when they introduced Monken as Cleveland’s new head coach. They described his offensive approach as “innovative” and highlighted his record of developing talent. On Sunday, though, Cleveland’s offense never really found its footing against Jacksonville.
The game also marked Cleveland’s first outing since the Browns traded two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams during the offseason. Cleveland got pass rusher Jared Verse and draft capital in return. It was another major change for a team already entering a new chapter under Monken.
The defense that Cleveland built its identity around for years didn’t offer much resistance either, allowing Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence to post the highest passer rating of his career while watching the fourth quarter mostly from the bench.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Monken made clear he wasn’t preparing to blow anything up after one game.
“I’m sure as hell not firing me. I’m not firing our staff. I’m not getting rid of all our players,” Monken said. “So he happens to be one of 53 and however many practice squad guys we got, and our staff, he’s one of that. So we’ll evaluate everything. But to just say that emotionally here at the end when we’re, you know, I mean, we just didn’t play good enough and didn’t coach well enough.”
After the loss, Monken kept coming back to the same idea: the Browns had to take responsibility for what happened as a team.
“It’s a ‘we’ thing,” Monken said. “It’s not a me, it’s not a they thing, it’s a we thing. We’re going to fight like hell to get better. That’s what I’ve always done. That’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
Rochell knows what it is like to actually be part of the Browns. He spent seven seasons with the Chargers, Colts, Browns, and Raiders, ending his career with 113 tackles and 9.5 sacks before retiring in February 2023.
The Browns had a rough first Sunday, and a former player saw an opening for a joke. The next opportunity to change that feeling will be on September 20, when Cleveland visits Raymond James Stadium for a 1 p.m. ET game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.