Todd Monken Press Conference — October 14th, 2026

[9:10] basis uh just how how nice is it for you guys to see what you saw on sunday well we'll see i mean [9:19] we're not going to rule anybody in or out today but uh we've got a number of guys dealing with [9:24] some some uh some minor issues and we'll see uh today and the rest of the week [9:28] scary sight for everyone for him to kind of have this kind of turnaround no just from a player's [9:45] health perspective it's it's cool you know that it wasn't worse than it was and uh you know so [9:51] that's probably the biggest thing from a health standpoint staff's different but um you know [9:56] basically this week um is there any benefit in knowing like player tendencies having worked [10:01] with lamar having gone against you know a lot of those defensive players are any benefit extra [10:05] benefit in terms of game planning and whatnot i don't know about that i mean there's i mean [10:10] it gets offset by us what we do on offense i guess you know a little bit got a lot of respect for [10:17] their players and um you know i don't i mean i think that what you see is what you get from them [10:24] i mean in terms of schematically and how they play and so do you prepare for lamar not knowing for [10:33] sure who will start i think you prepare for the ravens i mean that's who you're going to prepare for [10:37] i mean they've got a really good coaching staff and i've been there before where we you know played [10:42] snoop and snoop's a really good football player and won a bunch of games as the starter so uh we'll [10:46] prepare for the ravens i mean it's a divisional game i mean that you know it's the next one really is [10:57] what that is i mean did i enjoy my time there of course you know a lot a lot of really good [11:02] memories uh got a lot of good friends and uh people there but other than that no it's a divisional [11:07] game it's the next one snoop that you know he's been able to work so well for so many years as you [11:16] know kind of lamar's underside very confident player you know has a belief in himself to make plays [11:24] and he's he's really uh he's a gamer i know it sounds really like overused but the moment never [11:32] gets too big for him you know he loves to play football and um he gets in the game and he's able [11:38] to make plays with his arms and his legs and he gets rid of the ball and knows where to get the ball [11:43] out when under duress and uh you know he works awfully hard he's very diligent uh in preparing [11:50] uh as the backup so when his time is called he's able to play at a high level [11:54] not really not not by the way we had played with him as our starter not after you know the way he [12:06] played in the bears game and then later you know in the patriots second half and then uh the packers [12:12] game i was not surprised you were in your old office there how did you view denzel warden when [12:18] you were getting ready to play an elite cover guy a guy that you know it does a great job of staying [12:26] in phase with receivers and closes on the ball well down the field you can see that and has [12:32] excellent ball skills be able to make catches at the catch point is there defense change this year [12:38] what's that how or if at all is there defense change this year oh it it's changed dramatically [12:45] in terms of i think the league has changed dramatically in terms of uh defensive coordinators [12:50] approaches um to the way the game has changed in terms of analytics and offense has taken four [12:56] downs and their approach being more aggressive but the personnel is very similar i mean they've added [13:02] some pieces but the personnel is still very similar what declan doyle is able to do um with that [13:09] offense and kind of kind of change it um well you know declan first of all uh i ga'd with his dad [13:15] so i know the family i mean way back at notre dame and ga'd for jesse's dad who's there rick there so [13:22] i mean go way back with the family but declan's a tremendous coach i mean when you talk about going [13:27] from new orleans and then to denver and has ascended quickly and really really smart and uh he's doing [13:33] a great job with them i mean been around some really good mentors highly intelligent doing some more [13:38] under center with lamar which is which is working um you know the stats bear that out that they're doing [13:44] a great job all your running backs available today were not with you in training camp and nobody who [13:49] was part of this program in training camp i don't believe it's part of the next man up right that's [13:54] that's why you keep bringing in players and getting them up to speed and and we'll see you know as the [13:59] week goes on who will have available [14:01] i don't i don't think you oh i i and i this is i think denzel's a fantastic player as there are a lot [14:16] of corners out there but i don't think there's any time you can just say we can't throw at an individual [14:21] player or we can't block an individual player there certainly there's more difficult matchups [14:26] than others right um but you certainly have to be leery of players like that uh that are ball hawking [14:32] style that you know can read routes and jump it you talk about the communication and protection game [14:39] where does that start is it the sean and being on the same page like what needs to well it starts with [14:47] coaching that that's where it starts it starts with us and that's where it always starts it doesn't [14:53] it we have to make sure that our guys are we're giving them the looks and that we're diligent [15:02] in terms of every single rep matters from the walkthrough to the blitz pickup periods [15:08] and we're consistent in terms of our protection and communication that's a part of it too [15:14] how are we coaching it how are we scheming it are we giving them the right looks to start [15:18] our communication right up front quarterback and center they're the epicenter of the communication [15:25] piece and just making sure we're on the same page and that's part of the growing pains [15:31] unfortunately of a new system uh different running backs in the backfield young players [15:36] there's not a lot of recall there right something pops up and you're like oh yeah oh yeah but that's [15:42] and that's that's not an excuse because i'm not a big excuse guy we certainly have to find a way to [15:47] be better because we weren't and some of it's uh getting the ball out some of it's coaching some of [15:52] it's communication some of it's diligence and uh but we know it has to be fixed [15:56] i think there's a chance um you know he'll be out there today and we're excited that uh that his [16:14] window's been opened back a little bit why do you think that's a trend across the league oh you'd have [16:28] to ask the you know i mean the teams that do it i think that's everybody's comfortable with where [16:34] they've been and what you know can only coach what you know i think obviously some of the run game [16:41] there's it's more advantageous to be under center i think your play action game your nakeds i think [16:46] play off of that i think everybody would say that so that that's a part of it advantageous for the [16:52] run game to start under center well you're at the home position right you don't have an offset back [16:59] right there's no tells at times uh because then you're constantly having to move your back or you have [17:04] to be in what the pistol right which teams have gone to you saw that uh with the falcons last year [17:09] you know with bijon being in the in the pistol so i mean all of it's good football it's just deciding [17:15] where you want to start and what you do from whether you're under center or offset or whether [17:21] you're in the pistol all of it's good football it is it's a lot more difficult i mean you certainly [17:30] can i mean i um the bears against uh was against carolina panthers the first game they ran like [17:38] a little naked but they were blocking for him wasn't even a naked so it's not very common [17:43] it's not very common to have q be driven you're gonna have more nakeds uh you're not gonna use [17:48] the quarterback nearly as much but i did see one it made me think about that tony [17:52] in baltimore just how have you seen him get better and better as a player both in your time there and [18:01] i know this year he's talked a lot about how he's getting moved around a lot more just how have you [18:06] seen him even get better this year oh first of all uh from the moment he got there i mean you could [18:12] see his skill set was beyond a novelty you know you could see that his ability to route run and [18:19] stay full speed his balance and body control is elite and uh just his personality what he brought [18:25] every single day in terms of work loves to practice got a smile on his face and um he's just continued [18:33] to get better and better and it was hard the first year because we wanted to move him around and we [18:37] we moved him around maybe not as much as they're moving him around now [18:39] um but we we did move him around but it's much harder when you're a younger player [18:44] but we certainly were trying to put zay in position uh to catch as many balls he could and [18:49] i i don't care how many balls you get him it's not enough [18:53] philosophically why is it why is it harder to to cover um any wide receiver that lines up in the [18:58] slot as opposed to what's that now philosophically why is it harder to to kind of keep or kind of guard [19:04] any receiver that lines up in the slot as opposed to oh i don't know i guess you could argue that [19:12] the distance between the throw and the player is easier i mean you're talking about the distance [19:17] of a throw from a slot as a general rule you're getting more and more choice routes out of those [19:23] guys you're getting more intermediate routes again the distance is a part of that i think at times [19:28] your matchup gets created with nickels or safeties that's a part of that um and i think you also have [19:35] body types that are guys a lot of times in the slot that create that type of separation [19:41] so i think there's a lot more than just one thing but i i off the top of my head that's what hit my [19:47] brain a big part of the ravens not so much this year a little easier to prepare for them a little bit [19:57] but you know with what they do um under center uh their run play action and naked game maybe from [20:05] a personnel standpoint it's a little bit different but uh you know with what they do and the players [20:11] they have very difficult to defend you got two rookies on strides have you seen in the last [20:18] couple of weeks out of the entire device some injuries well some other variables first of all [20:25] we didn't handle the elements very well the other day but i'd started to see strides you know playing [20:32] against pittsburgh and you know the jets were a little bit more aggressive what i've seen is we took [20:37] a step back a little bit in communication obviously in protections but in terms of running off the [20:44] football i've seen strides there i've seen our confidence build with our right guard and our left [20:50] tackle the rookies and um i think that's only going to continue to grow and the guys in terms of [20:56] playing together i think they're just going to continue to get better and better as far as the [21:02] communication some of it's that and some of it's you're just going to have to make a decision i mean [21:07] that's you have to make a decision there's a 40 second clock you don't you don't have all day [21:12] it's it's like taking if you remember back taking the act and the set you're going to have to answer [21:17] the question you're going to run out of time you're not if you had all day that's different we don't [21:21] have all day i mean there's a clock you have to make a decision and live with it and know where [21:25] you're going and know where your issues are and uh that starts with us as coaches and making sure [21:31] we're on point and then it's up to the players once we get it in there like this is what we're [21:36] doing and be on be on point two more was there any awkwardness last january working for the ravens [21:42] trying to get this job you know absolutely not um i would say that i'm very grateful for the [21:50] opportunity um you know where basically john was let go and they allowed me to you know work in my [22:00] office and prepare uh for the interview that i had here because it was initially on zoom so i did that [22:06] out of my office i continued to work out of my office i was allowed to continue to keep working there [22:10] and um again they didn't have to do that you know um so that part of it wasn't awkward for me [22:17] i mean it was i was trying to get another job like i i don't think it was awkward for them we'd been [22:24] around it for three years i mean there's a lot of appreciation of me for the people in the building [22:29] and i would think there's appreciation for the job that i did every day there [22:33] you um you talked about next minute up but when you look at you know the number of guys that you [22:41] know aren't available to practice do you adjust anything based on that or we'll adjust we'll adjust [22:48] today there'll be a little bit there'll be a little more walkthrough in certain periods today that we [22:52] have to do we just we just don't we won't have the numbers uh with the availability of our team that [22:57] doesn't we still have to get full speed work in certain areas and we will do that [23:01] the history between these two teams obviously weird being the head coach on the other side of [23:13] it knowing the history between not really i mean i i don't know if that's the answer that everybody [23:20] wants to hear i mean it's ultimately i have a job to do just like i had a job to do there just like i [23:29] had a job to do in 19 and the job is what can i do today to help our team get better and keep taking [23:37] strides uh to play winning football and that's that's really all i think about i mean [23:41] there's other times i mean you know i mean it's a divisional game it's a big game for us and it's [23:46] the next one that's really as much as anything is we're just trying to continue to uh develop our [23:52] players and play as clean a football and you know offensively three of the last four games we really [23:58] haven't turned it over we ended up you know late in the last game and that that that gives us a chance [24:02] we got to continue down that path of not turning the ball over hasn't always been clean but you know [24:07] the pittsburgh game that stopped us but the other two games and then yet and then you know sunday [24:12] gave us a chance thank you thank you