Tomlin Revives 'Browns is the Browns' Jibe, Monken Fires Back After Loss

A healthy list of NFL teams  disappointed in the first week of the 2026 season. The New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers lost to backup quarterbacks, the Denver Broncos couldn't make a tackle, and the Tennessee Titans couldn't do anything right. Then, there are the Cleveland Browns .

The Browns fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars  in Todd Monken's coaching debut, 34-10, and the game went the way many thought it would, with Cleveland a two-score underdog. The defense struggled to contain Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence , who completed 18 of 23 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns, while Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson threw for 205 yards, one touchdown and one interception while taking five sacks.

Cleveland recorded 272 yards of total offense and didn't score a point until the second half. With this loss, the Browns fell to 3-24-1 in Week 1s since 1999, and Watson faced the largest deficit (31 points) of his Browns career -- which consists of 20 starts.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers  coach Mike Tomlin didn't have much to say about the Browns' Week 1 performance during his debut on "Football Night in America" on NBC, but he did shout out one of his former players for a famous quote that continues to live on.

"In the words of my friend JuJu Smith-Schuster , the Browns is the Browns," Tomlin said.

> Mike Tomlin: "In the words of my friend JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Browns is the Browns." 🏈💀🎙️ pic.twitter.com/5jRJYeRgG1 — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 14, 2026

Back in 2021, Smith-Schuster was asked about the Steelers' rivalry with the Browns. He indicated that nothing really changes with Cleveland's organization no matter how many new coaches or players they bring in.

"I think they're still the same Browns teams I play every year," Smith-Schuster said, via the Associated Press . "I think they're nameless gray faces. They have a couple good players on their team, but at the end of the day, I don't know. The Browns is the Browns."

Tomlin is probably allowed to take shots at his old rival. After all, he went 28-9-1 in the regular season against Cleveland.

There is some truth to JuJu's blunt assessment. The Browns registered just four winning seasons since 1999, and won one playoff game. Still, Monken isn't prepared to embrace the ghosts of Cleveland's past. He disagreed with Tomlin's assessment.

"Everybody's afforded their opinions. That's what you do when you go from coaching to television," Monken said. "We have to own that. We have to own that. We didn't play very well. I don't see it that way, 'Browns being Browns.' I don't see it that way. Every week is different, every team is different. We just didn't play well. That's one week. That's not 'Browns being Browns,' that's Browns being poorly on one week...

"The only way to change people's opinions is to play better. That's a fact."

There are not many reasons to be optimistic about the Browns right now, but Monken is correct. Winning cures everything, and Cleveland's next chance to win is on the road this week against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/browns-todd-monken-mike-tomlin/)._