Todd Monken had some choice words for Mike Tomlin after his comments on the Browns’ Week 1 loss.
Monken took time in his postgame press conference to fire back at the former Steelers coach’s remarks after Cleveland defeated the Buccaneers on Sunday.
“Browns are gonna Browns. F–k that!” Monken said with fire in his voice. “The guys took that to heart.”
Warning: Mature language
The comment was a reference to Tomlin, now an NBC broadcaster, quoting former Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster’s “the Browns is the Browns” line while discussing Cleveland’s Week 1 loss to the Jaguars.
The Browns turned things around in Week 2 and picked up a 23-19 win over the Bucs on the road.
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson confirmed that the players had been bothered by the comment, according to Cleveland.com.
“Monk said what he said,” Watson said. “That’s how we all feel.”
Tomlin didn’t seem to mind being the object of the Browns’ ire when he hit the airwaves on “Sunday Night Football.”
Before the Colts and Chiefs played on NBC, the Browns coach’s comments came up.
“Hey, I’m glad that I can still motivate, although I’m not coaching anymore,” Tomlin said with a laugh.
He expanded on that during the halftime show.
“I love my role, that’s what I have to say for myself. You know why? Because I can provide bulletin board material with no personal consequence,” Tomlin said jokingly.
“You got to give them credit for what transpired this week, particularly on their defense. … Cleveland’s defense showed up today. They had three sacks, five quarterback hits and they just did a really good job of playing with spirit, and I respect that,” Tomlin continued.
