The Cleveland Browns love affair has hit a bit of a speed bump this summer. The team that everyone and their grandmother has going to the playoffs in 2019 is having some issues adapting to its new offense. Reports are circulating out of the most recent minicamp that the problems are so severe that head coach Freddie Kitchens is having to take a much bigger role than he expected to in rolling out and coordinating the offense.
That's never a good sign for a first year head coach, or the first year for a new offensive coordinator. Todd Monken was brought in by Kitchens this year to give the Browns an offense that would terrify other teams.
Instead, it appears the head coach is a little terrified that his offensive coordinator doesn't know what he's doing or how to tailor the approach to his weapons.
Not going smoothly
Mike Silver of NFL Network was one of the first to report there were some problems with the Cleveland Browns. He says that the arrival of Monken has "not gone as smoothly as planned." Though it appears the team is disputing those reports, Monken has made comments all spring and summer that would indicate that there have been a few bumps in the road.
In May, the OC said the offense was a "work in progress." The progress is apparently not moving as fast as Kitchens would like if he really is taking a bigger role than was first expected.
The question that should be raised at this point is just what is going on with Monken, who seems to be able to put together a very good offense, and the head coaches he works under at times?
It's possible it's just a matter of meshing what Freddie Kitchens, who was the Cleveland Browns' offensive coordinator last year, with what the current OC is comfortable doing.
For all the talk of preparation and the OTAs an minicamps, the two men have not been working together for that long a period of time. It's possible the pair are just feeling each other out and figuring out how they can better understand one another.
Not the first time
The odd addition to this story is the one game last year.
In that game, Monken was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Bucs, who were leading the league in passing offense and second in the NFL in total offense. Then Bucs' head coach Dirk Koetter took away play-calling duties for the week 10 contest. Under Koetter, the team managed just three points and Monken got his duties back.
This time around, Kitchens will be making the play-calling, at least for the most part. Monken was expected to craft the offense and come up with gameplans. It appears that whatever he has been doing so far hasn't been sitting well with the Cleveland Browns' head coach. How far this plays out could determine whether the team lives up to the hype in 2019.