Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson figures to play again this season. When that will be is anyone’s guess. After getting knocked out and effectively sat down by the Browns’ coaching staff after being medically cleared in Week Seven, it isn’t clear when Watson will return to the starting lineup.
According to a tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter Tuesday night, Watson “continues to have both pain and weakness with movement” in the rotator cuff of his throwing shoulder. Apparently common injuries in baseball, those injuries can take up to six weeks to heal.
Watson suffered the injury sometime during the team’s Week Three win over the Tennessee Titans, the best game Watson’s played in his two years with the Browns. Limited in the leadup to the Browns’ Week Four game against Baltimore, he was expected to play but bowed out 90 minutes before kickoff. Watson did not play in the team’s Week Six game following their bye.
He returned to the lineup for Week Seven against the Indianapolis Colts. He struggled, going 1-for-5 with an interception, before being hit hard and evaluated for a concussion. Watson was cleared and able to return to the game but head coach Kevin Stefanski opted to keep him on the bench, playing veteran P.J. Walker again. The Browns pulled off a wild and controversial victory, 39-38, to move to 4-2 on the season.
Cleveland is preparing to play the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday. As of now, Watson is considered day-to-day with a truly uncertain status for this weekend’s game. Based on reports, it doesn’t sound like Watson will practice tomorrow but could later in the week.
Traded for in the 2022 offseason, the Browns gave Watson a fully guaranteed $230 million deal. After serving an 11-game suspension for sexual assault and harassment allegations, he returned to finish out 2022. He’s lost both his starts against the Steelers, the Week 18 finale a year ago, and their Week Two matchup this season. Across those two games, he’s thrown three touchdowns, three interceptions, and been sacked 12 times.
As we wrote about Monday, the Browns might have serious buyer’s remorse with little return on their massive investment.
Pittsburgh will face Cleveland again in less than a month on November 19th. It’s a coin flip as to when Watson will return and it’s possible the Steelers will be getting ready for Walker instead.
