Todd Monken is tired of the media acting surprised when players get frustrated with play-calling or want the ball more.<\/p>\n
The former Ravens offensive coordinator appeared on The Ryan Ripken Show<\/a> last week and unloaded on how the media covers coaching decisions and player frustrations. Monken, who is no longer with Baltimore after John Harbaugh was fired<\/a> following an 8-9 season, didn\u2019t hold back on what he views as obvious narratives dressed up as breaking news.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, we\u2019re in a business where we\u2019re expected to excel every week, so there\u2019s going to be high stress,\u201d Monken said. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be frustration. There\u2019s going to be times where they look at me, and they\u2019re like, \u2018Why do we call this? Why don\u2019t we run this? Why don\u2019t we use this player more?\u2019 That comes with the territory. I mean, that\u2019s no sh*t, you know? I get it. I\u2019m not mad at anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n What does frustrate him, though, is how those moments are framed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe media acts like that\u2019s something like \u2018Oooooh, the players are frustrated with the play calling.\u2019 Well, no sh*t, my wife is. I don\u2019t even understand it,\u201d Monken said. \u201cLike they act like it\u2019s something, or this skill player wants the ball more. Well, no sh*t. \u2018They want to run the ball more.\u2019 Well, no sh*t. OK, you\u2019re running the ball, now \u2018You\u2019re too conservative.\u2019 It\u2019s play-to-play, drive to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe media acts like that\u2019s something that\u2019s like \u2018oooo\u2019 \u2018the players are frustrated with the playcalling\u2019 well no shit, my wife is\u201d<\/p>\n Todd Monken opens up about media narratives and how they will always change. pic.twitter.com\/GclMePGjCI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ryan Ripken (@ryanripkenshow) January 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Monken pointed out the impossible standard coordinators face week to week. One game, a coordinator is \u201cin his bag,\u201d the next he\u2019s \u201ctoo trick Dicky.\u201d The narratives shift constantly based on results, not process.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is what it is,\u201d Monken said. \u201cBut they act like it\u2019s a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n The irony is that Monken\u2019s tenure in Baltimore gave the media plenty of material when the results were good. In 2023, Lamar Jackson<\/a> won his second MVP as the Ravens finished sixth in total offense. In 2024, Baltimore became the first team in NFL history to post 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in the same season, finishing first in total offense and third in scoring.<\/p>\n Then came this past season, when everything unraveled.<\/p>\n Monken didn\u2019t dodge accountability on Ripken\u2019s show. He said he \u201cdidn\u2019t coach Lamar well enough<\/a>\u201d and acknowledged that he \u201cdidn\u2019t have as good a relationship as I could\u2019ve\u201d with Jackson. He also defended both Jackson and Harbaugh<\/a> against media reports suggesting a fractured relationship<\/a>, saying he never saw either have issues with the other or with the players.<\/p>\n But Monken\u2019s frustration with media narratives extended beyond just coverage of his tenure in Baltimore. He addressed the broader challenge of social media and its role in shaping perception.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in the business of being critiqued,\u201d Monken said. \u201cI don\u2019t like it. Everybody loves to be told they\u2019re doing a great job. Everybody loves to hear the good things, but we\u2019re not paid to always hear that. The position we\u2019re in says you\u2019ve got to take the good with the bad. And at the end of the day, it\u2019s just noise.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem, Monken said, is that social media makes it easy for players to believe narratives that fit what they want to hear while ignoring everything else.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world we live in is what we try to talk to our players about all the time \u2014 the world of social media,\u201d Monken said. \u201cYou guys have to be careful because it\u2019s real easy to want to listen and believe to what someone says that fits a narrativ, and it\u2019s easy to not believe the other side of it. Like it\u2019s everything in life, politics, religion, what side, the right or the left, sports. You just have to be careful of like who do you really believe and trust?\u201d<\/p>\n The Wheaton, Illinois, native interviewed Saturday<\/a> for the Cleveland Browns head coaching vacancy. He spent one season as Cleveland\u2019s offensive coordinator in 2019 under Freddie Kitchens before both were fired after a 6-10 season. He went to Georgia<\/a> and won two national championships as offensive coordinator before returning to the NFL with Baltimore<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n Whether Monken ends up in Cleveland or elsewhere, he already knows what\u2019s coming. Players will want the ball. Fans will second-guess play calls. Media narratives will swing wildly from week to week.<\/p>\n But, again, that\u2019s all part of the job.<\/p>\n \t