CHICAGO ― Two seconds. It's not a long time, really. A blink of an eye. However, two seconds multiplied even four times can be an eternity. At least, that's how the Browns offensive braintrust views things when it comes to the time before the snap. Subscribe to Browns Insider newsletter
"We talk about the four-twos all the time, we’re trying to save eight seconds pre-snap before every play," offensive coordinator Travis Switzer said this week. "That’s getting the call in two seconds faster, getting into the huddle two seconds faster, making sure our play calls are short enough that we’re in the huddle two seconds less, and then getting to the line of scrimmage two seconds faster." The pre-snap operations of the offense, specifically the quarterbacks, has been the topic du jour for the Browns since Switzer's boss, Todd Monken, was hired as the head coach in late January. Monken's "scheme" may not have much in terms of hard and fast schematic dogma, but what goes on between the time the quarterback gets into the huddle to call the play until the ball is snapped is as close to a commandment as anything. When Monken or one of the offensive coaches talks about quarterbacks who "want the smoke," they're talking about quarterbacks who can handle the pressure placed on them to get the call from Monken, relay it to the other 10 in the huddle, get out of the huddle and to the line, make the necessary checks based on what they see from the defense and, ultimately, snap the ball. All within the time allowed on the play clock, no less. “It’s very important," quarterback Shedeur Sanders said Aug. 12. "That’s why I talk about saving your energy. Throughout my day, I find ways I can save my energy to be able to be a battery out there, to be able to operate fast and do everything with a purpose, very quickly. You can’t do all that when you’re being pulled in a lot of different directions because that’s how I feel drained. I feel drained that way. And I tested it, so I know what helps me and what puts me in the best situation to operate how the coaches would like.” Sanders, who started the final seven games of his rookie 2025 season under then-coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, has been locked in a battle with veteran Deshaun Watson to be the starting quarterback when the Browns open the season Sept. 13 at the Jacksonville Jaguars. There's been more than a few times during both the offseason program and training camp where he's physically performed at a higher level than Watson, but has lagged behind his more experienced teammate because of the pre-snap process. The obsession with that part of the quarterback's job has been met by some fans with eye rolls and questions about focusing too much on minutae. Monken, who said part of the responsibility also falls on he and Switzer to get the call in expediently, said it's not absurd to have a higher level of expectation on the most important person on the field for the offense. "How do we buy seconds? Because there’s nothing worse than anxiety at the line of scrimmage for any decision-maker," Monken said Aug. 12. "That’s a fact, and that’s in life. You don’t want anxiety. I said the other day, if you’re flying, do you want the pilot to have anxiety? Of course not. If you’re getting operated on, do you want the doctor to have anxiety? Of course not, right? … That starts with us, in terms of how we build it, the terminology, getting the call in, getting everybody in the huddle, and then getting out of the huddle and saving time on the clock. For us to really function at a high level, that’s the art.” Monken announced on Aug. 12 that it will be Watson who will start when the Browns open the preseason Aug. 15 at the Chicago Bears. Sanders will start the Aug. 22 home preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, with both splitting the snaps with the No. 1 offense in the Aug. 20 joint practice with the Bills. Buy Cleveland Browns tickets Watson, naturally, should be better with the pre-snap expectations of a quarterback just based on the 10 years of experience he already posseses. There's also some symmetry between the expectations placed on the position by Monken and his offense and the one he ran during his days playing for Bill O'Brien with the Houston Texans. “Yeah, I think coach is definitely going to be frustrated, because he wants professionalism, and that’s what we strive for, you want a coach that’s striving for that," Watson said Aug. 12. "Even one pre-snap penalty, two pre-snap penalties, might seem small in the grand scheme of things, but those things get you beat, like I mentioned before. This is very similar to how my training camps were back when I first got drafted, with Coach Bill O’Brien. Very aggressive, very intense. He wanted professionalism, especially coming from the New England system with (Tom) Brady everything was about crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s." Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/ This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What's the root of Browns' pre-snap obsession? It's about '8 seconds'