Day 18 of Cleveland Browns training camp took place Monday, August 24. The Browns officially named their starting quarterback for the regular season.

Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report – Day 18 (8/24/26)

1. Watson’s First Practice as Starter: As you all know by now, early in the day, Deshaun Watson was named the Browns’ starting quarterback. Prior to practice, Watson had this to say about the way he handled being booed a couple days ago:

“My emotions got the best of me … my comments weren’t intended to go at any of the fans in the city … I understand the frustration.”

Practice went as it often does for Watson. He had some sharp throws, but then there is one like this, where he overthrows WR Jerry Jeudy and should have been intercepted:

Tim Bradley has questioned Rolando Romero’s fighter-trainer relationship with Ismael Salas following his majority decision defeat to Teofimo Lopez this past weekend.

The 30-year-old made a first defence of his WBA world title at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, only to be convincingly outboxed by welterweight debutant Lopez.

While the scorecards would suggest otherwise, many felt ‘The Takeover’ won a clear decision by outlanding, and largely outclassing, his low-volume opponent.

The key moment of success for ‘Rolly’ came in round five, when he hurt Lopez with an overhand right but was unable to get his man out of there, or in fact score a knockdown.

As a result, Lopez became a three-division world champion while Romero suffered his first defeat since getting stopped in eight rounds by Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz.

That setback came in 2024, after the American had moved up to 140lbs in the wake of his sixth-round stoppage loss to Gervonta Davis around two years earlier.

Back then, Romero was working with head coach Cromwell ‘Bullet’ Gordon but is now trained by Salas, who has been widely credited for improving Rolly’s technical ability and defensive skills.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, though, Hall of Famer Bradley made the argument that Romero no longer has faith in his punch resistance.

“Rolly is a defective fighter. I’ve told y’all already – he’s not skilled; he’s not that good. All he does is have power.

“You think you’re gonna outbox Teofimo Lopez? You think you literally, clearly won the fight? Get the hell out of here, Rolly.

“Look at how Rolly used to be when he was with Bullet. He was aggressive; he was coming forward; he was a damn dog.

“Then he got his ass knocked out by Gervonta Davis. [Then] he got his ass knocked out by Pitbull Cruz. He been fighting on skates ever since. He don’t believe in this [his chin].”

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While Salas oversaw a unanimous decision victory over Ryan Garcia in May 2025, it did seem that Romero was struggling to follow instructions from his trainer against Lopez.

On Saturday, the Bills acknowledged that defensive tackle Ed Oliver’s young son died earlier this summer, after a report regarding the tragedy had emerged a day earlier.

On Monday, authorities in Houston closed the investigation regarding the situation.

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“The incident was thoroughly investigated by detectives, and their finding [was] no criminal findings,” the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office said Monday, per the Associated Press. “The case is now closed.”

Oliver’s son, who was nearly two, was found unresponsive in a swimming pool in late June.

Quarterback Josh Allen spoke out on Saturday against the decision to publish information about the boy’s death, saying he was “very, very sad and angry” that the information had come to light before Oliver was ready to share it.

The situation sparked a discussion regarding journalism ethics, with the prevailing view being that the story should not have been shared until Oliver was ready to do so.

The Cleveland Browns have finally made their QB1 decision after weeks of speculation — and unfortunately for Shedeur Sanders, it does not involve him.

On Monday, head coach Todd Monken announced during media availability that Deshaun Watson would start for the team in the Week 1 game at the Jacksonville Jaguars. He said:

“I took in the full body of work over the course of the offseason to training camp to the games, the joint practice, and ultimately felt like to start the season on the road, Deshaun gave us the best chance to move the ball and score points.

“I felt that way going into the last game, but wasn’t sure. And after we talked as a staff and we re-looked at everything, we’re going to go that direction.”

Watson had split reps with Sanders during the Browns’ first two preseason games, both losses. Over those two games, Watson had 16 completions for 162 yards and an interception, and he was loudly booed by the home crowd during his reappearance at Huntington Bank Field, which he criticized during his post-game press conference.

Monken, however, reiterated that that negative reaction “absolutely” did not factor into his decision:

“Ultimately, the fans want us to win. That’s our job as coaches, why we’re hired to try and put the best product on the field. And when we don’t, then I understand their frustration. But ultimately they don’t decide who plays.”

ALSO READ: Browns HC Todd Monken reveals Shedeur Sanders’ reaction to Deshaun Watson getting QB1 job

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Mina Kimes rips Browns for naming Deshaun Watson QB1 over Shedeur Sanders

Fans have not been the only ones unhappy with the Browns’ choice of Deshaun Watson over Shedeur Sanders, however.

In a video posted to Bluesky, ESPN host Mina Kimes ripped the organization for continuing to back a player who, sexual assault allegations aside, has proven to be mostly terrible when he does play — to the detriment of the fanbase:

“The organization, in making this decision, has proven that despite the fact that they have one of the most loyal fanbases in sports, they are not aligned with their fans. They are aligned with their quarterback. Because, like what he said earlier this week, they simply do not care.”

The Browns still have one more preseason game to play — at home against the New England Patriots, with kickoff at 8 p.m. ET. Neither Sanders nor Watson will play — Dillon Gabriel and rookie Taylen Green will split snaps as they dispute the third-stringer position.