What did we learn about the Browns in their Week 1 loss to Jacksonville? Dan Labbe

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Proceed with caution when it comes to Week 1 of the NFL, but the Browns’ first week couldn’t have gone much worse. They rolled out a new head coach, new defensive coordinator and the winner of their latest quarterback competition on Sunday in Jacksonville, and all three, to put it nicely, left a lot to be desired.Expectations weren’t high for the Browns coming into this season, but the promise was a more functional offense with new weapons and a new play-caller in Todd Monken. The Browns, instead, did most of their damage in garbage time.The defense was supposed to continue its recent run of dominance, but instead rarely made life difficult for Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars’ offense.The only noticeable plus was on special teams, where they got quality returns throughout the game.On Friday, Monken said, “Let’s go play and see where we’re at, as coaching and playing. Let’s see where we’re at.”In today’s first postgame 10 Tuesday Takes, let’s see where the Browns are at vs. what we expected.2. The quarterback playThis is the piece where expectations were already low enough that it might have matched what happened. Deshaun Watson hadn’t played a game in nearly two years and, the last time he played, he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league.There was some hope that better infrastructure could help him thrive in a new phase of his career, where efficiency and playing point guard are more important than putting on the Superman cape. Instead, Watson looked like the same quarterback from two years ago who struggled to elevate the talent around him and rarely looked comfortable. The circumstances around him didn’t help and it wasn’t entirely his fault, but at some point, the excuses have to stop.Monken is prepared to stick with Watson for this upcoming game against Tampa Bay, but if he’s going to continue to play like this, there’s no real point to playing him instead of the young quarterbacks the rest of the season.Watson won’t win over the fan base in one week, but he has to at least play to a level that’s serviceable to have any chance of starting the home opener in Week 3.3. The weaponsCleveland Browns wide receiver Kc Concepcion catches a pass in warm ups before their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium.John Kuntz, cleveland.comThis is all tied together, but the Browns generally looked like a young team on Sunday.Wide receiver KC Concepcion led the team with five targets, catching four of them. He also carried the ball three times. He finished with 58 total yards of offense and fumbled once.Denzel Boston had just two receptions, one a 46-yard touchdown late in the game.Jerry Jeudy was the only other receiver targeted on Sunday, catching two of four targets for 26 yards.Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. was targeted just three times and had two catches for 21 yards. He averaged 0.88 yards per route run with an average depth of target of 3.3 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Last season, he had an average depth of target of 6 yards and averaged 1.68 yards per route run.The ineffectiveness of the passing game was reflected across the board.Meanwhile, the non-quarterback run game was non-existent. Quinshon Judkins had 33 yards on 12 carries with a long run of five yards. Raheim Sanders was the only other running back to carry the ball. He had 1 yard on one carry.None of this points to functional offense.The good news is it’s still easy to point to young players with upside, particularly Concepcion and Boston. In a season where development is the goal, the Browns simply need to see the arrows on the young players pointing up over these next 16 games.4. The operation wasn’t greatCleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken on the sideline in the second half of their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. John Kuntz, cleveland.comMonken emphasized operation all spring and summer, preaching about the importance of being elite at cadence and railing against bad football. (He used a different word.)There was a lot of bad football on Sunday.A promising two-minute drive at the end of the first half stalled when left guard Zion Johnson was called twice for holding, flags that sandwiched a false start by right tackle Tytus Howard and a delay of game. The delay of game happened out of the stoppage in play from the holding call.The Browns went from first-and-10 at the Jacksonville 39 to second-and-34 at their own 37.They had another delay of game contribute to the downfall of a third-quarter drive that started at the Jacksonville 23 after a long Sanders kickoff return. Watson changed the play on a third-and-2 from the 3-yard line as the play clock ticked down and, with the Browns working in a silent count, it appeared rookie guard Austin Barber didn’t signal for center Elgton Jenkins to snap the ball quickly enough.The Browns committed 11 penalties as a team. Four of them were presnap penalties.5. Then there’s the defenseJacksonville Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten is taken down by Cleveland Browns safety Ronnie Hickman Jr. after rushing for a first down in the first half of play. John Kuntz, cleveland.comThis is where the excuses really dry up.Everyone knew the offense was young and would have growing pains. Everyone knew it was unlikely Watson would recapture anything close to his Houston form.The defense, though, was supposed to be the part you could write in pen. Even if the offense scuffled, the defense could keep them in the game. They could create pressure. They could force turnovers.Instead, they gave up 360 yards of offense, including 234 passing yards, on a day when Jacksonville essentially shut it down with 23 minutes left in the game.The Jaguars had four plays of 20 or more yards, all of them in the passing game. Two of them were wide open touchdown passes.Meanwhile, they struggled to get to Lawrence, who picked them apart with his aggression. Through Sunday’s games, he led the league in average completed air yards, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats.“If we get time for any quarterback in the league to sit back there that long, they’re going dot everybody up,” defensive end Jared Verse said after the game.That’s what happened to this defense.What are my confidence ratings in those areas moving forward? That’s where we go next:6. Quarterback confidence: LowIt’s hard to have much faith in Watson. We are six years removed from his best seasons. He has played just 20 games for the Browns and it has been bad. This looked like 2024 again.Sticking with Watson with one more game is fine. You can’t overreact to Week 1 and what was the point of this prolonged competition and making such an unpopular choice if you’re going to bail after one game?It also doesn’t mean that Watson is going to turn it around. In fact, it’s likely he won’t and Monken will have to consider a change in Week 3.7. Weapons confidence: MediumI’m betting on youth here. Concepcion should improve as the season goes along. So should Boston. I’m not going to bail on my optimism about those two so quickly and Concepcion showed signs. The game will slow down for him.Fannin hasn’t quite looked like himself yet, so I’m more cautious there, and Judkins needs the offensive line to open up some opportunities.Over the course of 17 games, the young playmakers should improve.8. The defense: MediumSunday’s performance makes it difficult to go much higher than this, but I do still believe in some of the talent.Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell should be a formidable cornerback duo. They didn’t seem to be the problem on Sunday.Carson Schwesinger will get it figured out. So will Mason Graham, who had some flashes, and Maliek Collins. Jared Verse should, too.There’s enough talent here that they can turn it around.The biggest question remains Mike Rutenberg, whose debut as a defensive play-caller did not go as planned.Let’s wrap up with two quick takes:9. The last time the Browns faced Baker Mayfield, he was selling T-shirts with “Off the leash” emblazoned on them. I would expect a more tame approach from Mayfield, at least until after the game if the Bucs repeat what the Jaguars did to the Browns.10. It’s wild to think the Browns are in a position where their starting quarterback has to find a way to quiet his home crowd going into the home opener in Week 3. They made all the choices that led to this moment, though. It didn’t happen by accident.