Ravens believe Browns’ Todd Monken wants ‘to kick our tail’

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Many in the Baltimore Ravens‘ locker room believe Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken is not being entirely truthful about Sunday’s reunion.

Monken, who was Baltimore’s offensive coordinator the previous three seasons, insisted this week that there are no added emotions in facing his former team. But the Ravens feel they know exactly what this game means to the usually fiery Monken.

“If I know Todd the way I think I know Todd, he will want to kick our tail,” Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said.

Despite great success in 2023 and 2024, Monken exited Baltimore nine months ago amid conflicting reports about his relationship with players, especially with quarterback Lamar Jackson, who isn’t expected to play Sunday because of an ankle injury. During the 2025 season, when the offense dropped to the middle of the NFL, there were anonymous sources who voiced the players’ discontent with Monken’s playcalling.

In the offseason, Monken stressed there were no issues between him and Jackson. After Monken was hired by the Browns in January, he received congratulatory texts from Ravens players, including Jackson.

Now, after leading the Browns (3-2) to their best start in five years, Monken is facing the Ravens (4-1) in an early-season battle for first place in the AFC North (1 p.m. ET, CBS).

“He might not say it in the media, but to the team he definitely talks a lot of trash and lets them know [that] he wants to beat us,” Ravens running back Derrick Henry said.

During his time in Baltimore, Monken elevated the Ravens’ offense to new heights. In 2023, he helped Jackson to his second NFL Most Valuable Player award. The next season, Monken led the Ravens’ offense to its first No. 1 ranking in the NFL.

But in 2025, the Ravens unraveled in a disappointing 8-9 season. With Jackson struggling with injuries, Baltimore finished with 311.8 yards per game, which was its fewest in eight years.

Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman said he felt Monken left on good terms, pointing out the impressive production and records set under him.

“When you are a player, you have to make the choice whether you want to make this game about Todd Monken or do you want to make it about going to play football,” Bateman said. “I am pretty sure Todd Monken is not worried about Rashod Bateman or what he has done in Baltimore. He is worried about getting the Cleveland Browns right to beat us. So, I think for both sides, the respect is mutual.”

Monken feels grateful for how the Ravens handled his final month with the team, and the Ravens can be thankful to Monken for how he helped them land his successor with an influential phone call to Declan Doyle.

In January, Monken was allowed to work at the Ravens’ facility after John Harbaugh was fired as head coach. He had his initial virtual meeting with the Browns while sitting in his Ravens office.

“I don’t think it was awkward for them,” Monken said of the Ravens. “We’d been around it for three years. I mean, there’s a lot of appreciation of me for the people in the building, and I would think there’s appreciation for the job that I did every day there.”

When the Ravens showed interest in Declan Doyle to become their next offensive coordinator, one of the calls that Doyle made was to Monken. They knew each other because Monken was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame with Doyle’s father, Chris.

Monken’s advice to Doyle: Take the Ravens’ offensive coordinator job, because the players are there to win.

“He certainly had a big influence,” Doyle said. “If he had said, ‘Hey, don’t touch that place,’ I would have placed a lot of value in that. But that was not the case.”

Monken knows a lot of the strengths and weaknesses of Baltimore’s offensive players. The Ravens are familiar with Monken’s schemes and tendencies.

Ravens coach Jesse Minter doesn’t think either side has an advantage, saying the situation is “overblown.”

“There are so many of those things where it’s like, ‘Well, they know that we know that they know,'” Minter said. “[I] don’t put a lot of stock into it.”

Likewise, Monken wants to make sure the focus is on the teams and not him.

“Ultimately, I have a job to do,” Monken said. “And the job is, what can I do today to help our team get better and keep taking strides to play winning football. And that’s really all I think about.”