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Shedeur Sanders served as Deshaun Watson’s backup as the Cleveland Browns faced the Jacksonville Jaguars in their first regular-season game of the 2026 NFL season. Both Sanders and Watson pushed each other to the limit during the offseason to convince Monken to name them the starter. Monken, after evaluating the duo during offseason, training camp and preseason, decided to go with Watson as the starter over Sanders.
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However, Monken’s decision is already facing scrutiny as the Browns got off to the worst possible start to the 2026 season. The Jaguars thrashed the Browns 34-10. Monken’s team looked uncompetitive and flat for much of the game, trailing 24-0 at half time and 31-0 early in the third quarter.
Watson was in the middle of it all. The veteran quarterback, who is returning from an Achilles tendon injury that ruled him out for the entire 2025 season, looked completely off the pace from the get-go as he threw an interception on the opening possession. And he was never able to fully recover from that.
Watson eventually finished the game by completing 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards, including one touchdown and one interception. The offense didn’t help him out much either as he was sacked five times over the course of the game. The backlash has been scathing ever since the loss.
Browns fans want a change and they want it now. Monken received a clear request from Browns fans while he was entering the tunnel with the players, with the fans chanting, “We want Shedeur.” It’s not something entirely unexpected as there were a lot of doubts surrounding Watson entering the 2026 season.
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Browns fans chanting “We want Sanders!” the entire game. Fan drops a hat to get signed and Shedeur walks right past it pic.twitter.com/KVSl0Gmpbm
— Ivetta (@IvettaAbramyan) September 13, 2026
Monken, while speaking after the game, noticeably declined to name Watson the starter for Week 2. When asked about Watson’s status, Monken said, “I’d rather just talk about today because I haven’t had time to even look at the tape. We’ll evaluate everything.”
It will be interesting to see what Monken decides as the Browns gear up to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Week 2 clash.
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Related: Browns Share Deshaun Watson Update After Shedeur Sanders Announcement
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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 5:46 AM.